ECLECTIC ENGLISH CLASSICS 



alibi 



THE TRAGEDY 



OF 



MACBETH 



BY 



I WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE 




* AMERICAN • BOOK • COMPANY 
NEW YORK- CINCINNATI • CHICAGO 



2nd COPV : 
1898. 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 

Cliap.j...G_.l!opjriglit No. 

Shelf_ 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



DEC 15 W98 



ECLECTIC ENGLISH CLASSICS 



THE TRAGEDY 



OF. 



MACBETH 



/BY 

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE 



WITH AN APPENDIX CONTAINING SUGGESTIONS 
FOR ITS STUDY 

BY 
FRANKLIN THOMAS BAKER, A. M. 

TEACHERS COLLEGE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 



NEW YORK •:• CINCINNATI •:• CHICAGO 

AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY 



1 






20912 



Copyright, 1895, 1898, by 
American Book Company. 

Macbeth. 
w. p. 7 



"•* 



^HES RECEI' 




INTRODUCTION. 



The tragedy of "Macbeth" — one of the grandest and most 
wonderful creations of Shakespeare's genius — appeared in print 
for the first time in the folio of 1623, the earliest published col- 
lection of the dramatist's plays. 

The plot is derived from two independent and wholly unre- 
lated stories in Holinshed's " Chronicles of England, Scotland, 
and Ireland " (1587), a curious collection of superstitious legends, 
unreliable traditions, and a very few facts. The play is in no 
sense historical, though Duncan, King of Scotland, was treach- 
erously murdered in 1040, and Macbeth was his assassin and 
successor. 

The drama may be thus briefly outlined : Macbeth, Thane of 
Glamis, kinsman of Duncan, King of Scotland, achieves a signal 
victory over Norway's king, Sweno, who, embracing the oppor- 
tunity afforded by a rebellion in Scotland headed by the Thane of 
Cawdor, had invaded the kingdom. Duncan decrees the death 
of the traitorous thane, whose title he confers on Macbeth, and 
dispatches two nobles of the court to advise Macbeth of his new 
" addition " and advancement. 

In the mean time, Macbeth and Banquo, crossing a blasted 
heath, are suddenly confronted by three witches, or " weird sis- 
ters," who successively hail Macbeth as Thane of Glamis, Thane 

3 



4 INTRODUCTION. 

of Cawdor, and as one who shall be king hereafter ; greet Banquo 
as " lesser than Macbeth, and greater," that shall be the ancestor 
of kings, though not a king himself; and then vanish as sud- 
denly as they had appeared. The messengers from the King 
then arrive, and salute Macbeth as Thane of Cawdor, assuring 
him that greater honors await him at the hand of his royal master. 

The first prophetic greeting of the witches thus quickly verified, 
their tempting prediction of regal honors inflames the ambitious 
desires of Macbeth ; and, being further incited by the inordinate 
and unscrupulous ambition of his wife, the two contrive the death 
of their sovereign. An occasion offers when Duncan — with his 
sons Malcolm and Donalbain, and their retinue — is a guest at 
their castle ; and they proceed to execute their bloody and per- 
fidious purpose. Lady Macbeth having so drugged the drink of 
the guardians of Duncan's chamber that they lie in swinish sleep, 
Macbeth enters the room at dead of night, and with the daggers 
of the attendants stabs the sleeping king. Dazed by the atrocity 
of his own act, Macbeth steals from the chamber with the bloody 
weapons in his hands. He is met by his wife, who seizes the 
daggers, and replaces them by the side of the snoring grooms, 
whose faces she smears with blood ; for, as she tells her husband, 
it must appear that the murder was done by these besotted ser- 
vants. Malcolm suspects treachery, and flies to England, while 
Donalbain speeds to Ireland. 

Macbeth, the next in succession, assumes the crown ; but his 
guilty conscience gives him little rest. He suspects and fears all 
around him. Especially is Banquo the object of his dread and 
jealous hatred; and he has Banquo waylaid and killed. Still 
harassed by "horrible imaginings," Macbeth seeks the weird sis- 
ters, and demands that they unfold to him his future fate ; where- 



INTRODUCTION. 5 

upon three apparitions present themselves to his disordered mind. 
One warns him to beware of Macduff ; the second urges him to 
be bold and resolute, as none of woman born has power to harm 
him ; and the third assures him he shall never be vanquished till 
Birnam Wood shall come to Dunsinane. Then Banquo's ghost 
appears with the semblances of eight kings, the long line of Ban- 
quo's descendants, future successors to the crown which Macbeth 
wears. Although his fear of Macduff is somewhat allayed by the 
utterances of the second apparition, in order to " make assurance 
doubly sure " Macbeth sends to Macduff's castle, and, failing to 
find him, has his wife and children put to death. 

The opening of the fifth act is a sleepwalking scene, in which 
Lady Macbeth enters in her nightdress, holding a lighted taper 
in her hand, fast* asleep, though her eyes are open, and entirely 
unconscious of her surroundings. Here, in the presence of her 
astounded physician and her waiting woman, she betrays in fitful 
mutterings and disconnected sentences the dread secret of the 
terrible crime in which she had participated. The death of 
Lady Macbeth, who, " as 'tis thought, by self and violent hands 
took off her life," occurs before the denouement of the tragedy. 

Macduff having joined Malcolm in England, they raise an 
army there, unite with a force of Scots already in arms to resist 
Macbeth, and prepare to besiege the usurper in his stronghold on 
Dunsinane Hill. As they pass Birnam Wood, Malcolm, in order 
to conceal the numbers of his force, commands that his followers 
cut branches from the trees, and that each soldier bear one before 
him on the march. An astonished sentinel on the walls reports 
to Macbeth in the castle that, looking towards Birnam, he saw the 
wood begin to move. Terrified by the announcement, Macbeth 
at once sallies out with his garrison, gives battle to the besiegers, 



6 INTRODUCTION. 

and meets Macduff, whom he would have avoided, but who chal- 
lenges him to personal combat. Macbeth replies that it would 
be labor lost; that he bears a charmed life, invulnerable to the 
assaults of any man born of woman. Macduff then reveals the 
extraordinary circumstances of his birth, and demands that Mac- 
beth fight, or yield. Though appalled by the disclosure, and curs- 
ing the "juggling fiends" who had deceived him, Macbeth does 
not yield, but with the courage of despair will fight to the last, 
and tells Macduff to do his worst. They encounter. Macbeth is 
slain ; and Malcolm, the rightful heir to the crown, is proclaimed 
King of Scotland. 

Professor Dowden ("Shakespeare") remarks of this tragedy: 
"While in ' B.omeo and Juliet,' and in 'Hamlet,' we feel that 
Shakespeare now began and now left off, and refined upon or 
brooded over his thoughts, ' Macbeth ' seems as if struck out at 
a heat, and imagined from first to last with unabated fervor. It 
is like a sketch by. a great master, in which everything is executed 
with rapidity and power, and a subtlety of workmanship which 
has become instinctive. The theme of the drama is the gradual 
ruin, through yielding to evil within and evil without, of a man 
who, though from the first tainted by base and ambitious thoughts, 
yet possessed elements in his nature of possible honor and loyalty. 
The contrast between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, united by 
their affections, their fortunes, and their crime, is made to illus- 
trate and light up the character of each. Macbeth has physical 
courage, but moral weakness, and is subject to excited imagina- 
tive fears. His faint and intermittent loyalty embarrasses him : 
he would have the gains of crime without its pains. But when 
once his hands are dyed in blood, he hardly cares to withdraw 



INTRODUCTION. 7 

them; and the same fears which had tended to hold him back 
from murder now urge him on to double and treble murders, 
until slaughter, almost reckless, becomes the habit of his reign. 
At last the gallant soldier of the opening of the play fights for 
his life with a wild and brutelike force. His whole existence has 
become joyless and loveless, and yet he clings to existence. 

" Lady Macbeth is of a finer and more delicate nature. Hav- 
ing fixed her eye upon an end, — the attainment for her husband of 
Duncan's crown, — she accepts the inevitable means; she nerves 
herself for the terrible night's work by artificial stimulants ; yet 
she cannot strike the sleeping King, who resembles her father. 
Having sustained her weaker husband, her own strength gives 
way ; and in sleep, when hei will cannot control her thoughts, 
she is piteously afflicted by the memory of one stain of blood 
upon her little hand. At last her thread of life snaps suddenly. 
Macbeth, whose affection for her was real, has sunk too far into 
the apathy of joyless crime to feel deeply her loss. 

" Banquo, the loyal soldier, praying for restraint of evil 
thoughts, which enter his mind as they had entered that of Mac- 
beth, but which work no evil there, is set over against Macbeth, 
as virtue is set over against disloyalty. 

" The witches are the supernatural beings of terror, in harmony 
with Shakespeare's tragic period, as the fairies of the ' Midsum- 
mer-Night's Dream ' are the supernatural beings of his days of 
fancy and frolic, and as Ariel is the supernatural genius of his 
later period. There is at once a grossness, a horrible reality 
about the witches, and a mystery and grandeur of evil influence." 

"This tragedy," says Gervinus ("Shakespeare Commentaries," 
translation of F. E. Bunnett, London, 1875), " has ever t> een re_ 



8 INTRODUCTION. 

garded and criticised with distinguishing preference among Shake- 
speare's works. If perhaps no other play can vie with 'Hamlet' 
in philosophical insight into the nature and worth of the various 
powers at work in man ; ... if none can compare with ' Othello ' 
in profoundness of design and careful carrying out of the charac- 
ters ; if none with ' Lear ' in the power of contending passions, 
and none with ' Cymbeline ' in the importance of moral principles, 
' Macbeth ' in like manner stands forth uniquely preeminent in the 
splendor of poetic and picturesque diction and in the living rep- 
resentation of persons, times, and places. How grandly do the 
mighty forms rise; how naturally do they move in heroic style ! 
" Locally we are transported into the Highlands of Scotland, 
where everything appears tinged with superstition, full of tangible 
intercommunion with the supernatural world and prognostics of 
the moral life by signs in the animate and inanimate kingdom ; 
while, in uniformity with this, men are credulous in belief, and 
excitable in fancy ; where they speak with strong expression, 
with highly poetical language, and with unusual imagery. . . . 
This mastery over the general representation of time and place 
is rivaled by the pictures of single circumstances and situations. 
Sir Joshua Reynolds justly admired that description of the mart- 
let's resort to Macbeth's dwelling as a charming image of repose, 
following, by way of contrast, the lively picture of the fight. 
More justly still has praise been always lavished on the powerful 
representation of the horrible in that night wandering of Lady 
Macbeth, in the banquet scene, and in the dismal creation of the 
weird sisters. And far above all this is the speaking truth of 
the scenes at the murder of Duncan ; . . . the fearful whispered 
conference, in the horrible dimness of which the pair arrange 
and complete their atrocious project ; the heartrending portrai- 



INTRODUCTION. 9 

ture of Macbeth's state of mind at the deed itself; the uneasy, 
half-waking condition of the sacrificed attendants, one of whom 
dreams on of the evening's feast, the other, in paralyzed con- 
sciousness, seems to anticipate the impending atrocity. 

" In the witches, Shakespeare has made use of the popular 
belief in evil geniuses and in adverse persecutors of mankind, 
and has produced a similar but darker race of beings, just as he 
made use of the fairies in ' Midsummer-Night's Dream.' They 
are simply the embodiment of inward temptation. . . . Mac- 
beth, in meeting them, has to struggle against no external power, 
but only with his own nature. . . . Within himself the evil spirits 
dwell which allure him with the delusions of his aspiring mind. 
They approach him as he stands on the highest step of his for- 
tunes, his power, and his valor. The rebellion he has just crushed 
places him above the weak Duncan, who is powerless to help 
himself; the newly attained rank of Thane of Cawdor increases 
his influence, and suggests to him the consideration of how far 
more successfully he could have played the part of traitor than the 
deposed chief who bore the title before him ; to this there is 
added the opportunity of Duncan's visit and the influence of his 
wife. 

" Banquo is opposed to Macbeth as a complementary character, 
and this contrast is displayed at once in the relations of both to 
the witches' temptation. Banquo has the same heroic courage, 
the same merit, and the same claims as Macbeth : it is natural, 
therefore, that the same ambitious thoughts should arise in one 
as in the other. But in Banquo they arise in a calmer nature, 
susceptible of the finest discretion, and therefore they do not 
master him as they do Macbeth. . . . Like Macbeth, he has 
temptations to struggle against; but he withstands them with 



io - INTRODUCTION. 

more powerful self-government. He has tempting dreams which 
trouble him ; he drives them away by prayer that they may not 
come again : he does more than pray, — he struggles against sleep 
itself, that he may escape them. Waking, his spirit masters the 
'cursed thoughts,' while in sleep nature pays tribute to the blood 
by giving way to these dreams. In his unrest he meets Macbeth. 
The guiltless man confesses his dreams ; the guilty denies further 
thoughts on the weird sisters ; he who at first had himself wished 
for free interchange of thought now avoids it. That Banquo 
should know what he knows is oppressive to Macbeth ; the uncon- 
scientious man feels burdened by the presence of the conscien- 
tious one, the evil by the good, the envious by the successful. 
Banquo might have been his good angel ; but, avoiding intercourse 
with him, Macbeth falls under the influence of his evil genius, 
his wife. 

" The complete antitype to her husband's irritable and imagi- 
native nature, Lady Macbeth is calm in judgment and cold in 
blood. No supernatural temptation approaches her, but only the 
substantial one in her husband's letter. No warning voice of 
conscience, no forebodings of terrible consequences, alarm her as 
they did Macbeth before the deed ; while it is being perpetrated, 
she remains circumspect, deliberate, ready for dissimulation ; after 
it, she would have been able speedily to forget what had happened. 
... A will of uncommon firmness renders her in a remarkable 
manner mistress of herself. She knows that by dissimulation, 
foresight, and cunning, she could commit and conceal the fatal 
deed in question. She scorns the bare idea that she could fail. 
She goes through her part so perfectly that no suspicion falls on 
her. . . . Her husband contents her only when he conceives 
the idea of creating for himself the opportunity which now offers 



INTRODUCTION. 1 1 

itself unexpectedly. She urges him to snatch as prey what may 
be the gift of destiny. . . . Knowing her consort well, she arro- 
gates to herself the manly part for which she endeavors to screw 
up her nature that she may herself perpetrate the murder. Mac- 
beth, she says, is only to look up clear, and leave all the rest 
to her ; she makes the plans, and talks of herself and him, both 
of whom are to have a share in the work ; she drugs' the servants 
and lays their daggers ready. . . . She would even give the blow 
with her own hands ; but at the moment itself her overwrought 
nature gives way. Those ' compunctious visitings of nature ' 
which she had banished from herself shake her when she traces 
in the sleeping King a resemblance to her father ; and the woman 
must leave that business to a man, which needs more than man 
to execute it." 

Hazlitt {" Characters of Shakespeare's Plays," New York, 1845), 
in a critical notice of this play, remarks : " ' Macbeth ' (generally 
speaking) is done upon a stronger and move systematic principle 
of contrast than any other of Shakespeare's plays. It moves upon 
the verge of an abyss, and is a constant struggle between life and 
death. The action is desperate and the reaction is dreadful. It 
is a huddling together of fierce extremes, a war of opposite 
natures which of them shall destroy the other. There is nothing 
but what has a violent end or violent beginnings. The lights 
and shades are laid on with a determined hand ; the transitions 
from triumph to despair, from the height of terror to the repose 
of death, are sudden and startling ; every passion brings in its 
fellow-contrary, and the thoughts pitch and jostle against each 
other as in the dark. The whole play is an unruly chaos of 
strange and forbidden things, where the ground rocks under our 



12 INTRODUCTION. 

feet. Shakespeare's genius here took its full swing, and trod 
upon the farthest bounds of nature and passion. This circum- 
stance will account for the abruptness and violent antitheses of 
the style, the throes and labor which run through the expression, 
and from defects will turn them into beauties, — ' So fair and 
foul a day,' etc. ; 'Such welcome and unwelcome news together;' 
' Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under it.' 
The scene before the castle gate follows the appearance of the 
witches on the heath, and is followed by a midnight murder. 
... In Lady Macbeth's speech, ' Had he not resembled my 
father as he slept, I had done't,' there is murder and filial piety 
together ; and in urging him [her husband] to fulfill his vengeance 
against the defenseless King, her thoughts spare the blood of 
neither infants nor old age. The description of the witches is 
full of the same contradictory principle, — they are neither of the 
earth nor the air, but both ; ' they should be women, but their 
beards forbid it;' they take all the pains possible to lead Mac- 
beth on to the height of his ambition, only to betray him 'in 
deepest consequence,' and, after showing him all the pomp of 
their art, discover their malignant delight in his disappointed hopes 
by that bitter taunt, ' Why stands Macbeth thus amazedly ? ' " 



MACBETH. 



PERSONS OF THE PLAY. 



noblemen of Scotland. 



Duncan, King of Scotland. 

Malcolm, [^ ; 

donalbain, s 

Macbeth, > generals of the King's 

Banquo, ) army. 

Macduff, 

Lennox, 

Ross, 

Menteith, 

Angus, 

Caithness, 

Fleance, son to Banquo. 

Siward, Earl of Northumberland, 
general of the English forces. 

Young Siward, his son. 

Seyton, an officer attending on Mac- 
beth. 

Boy, son to Macduff. 



An English Doctor. 
A Scotch Doctor. 
A Soldier. 
A Porter. 
An Old Man. 

Lady Macbeth. 
Lady Macduff. 

Gentlewoman attending on Lady Mac- 
beth. 

Hecate. 
Three Witches. 
Apparitions. 

Lords, Gentlemen, Officers, Soldiers, 

Murderers, Attendants, and 

Messengers. 



Scene : Scotland ; England. 



ACT I. 

Scene I. A Desert Place. 
Thunder and Lightning. Enter three Witches. 

First Witch. When shall we three meet again 
In thunder, lightning, or in rain ? 

Second Witch. When the hurlyburly's 1 done, 
When the battle's lost and won. 



1 Tumult. 
13 



14 SHAKESPEARE. [act i. 

Third Witch. That will be ere the set of sun. 
First Witch. Where the place ? 
Second Witch. Upon the heath. 

Third Witch. There to meet with Macbeth. 
First Witch. I come, Graymalkin ! 1 
Second Witch. Paddock 2 calls. 
Third Witch. Anon. 
All. Fair is foul, and foul is fair ; 
Hover through the fog and filthy air. [Exeunt. 



Scene II. A Camp ?iear Forres. 

Alarum within. Enter Duncan, Malcolm, Donalbain, Lennox, with 

Attendants, meeting a bleeding Sergeant. 

Duncan. What bloody man is that ? He can report, 
As seemeth by his plight, of the revolt 
The newest state. 

Malcohn. This is the sergeant 

Who like a good and hardy soldier fought 
'Gainst my captivity. — Hail, brave friend ! 
Say to the King the knowledge of the broil 
As thou didst leave it. 

Sergeant. Doubtful it stood ; 

As two spent swimmers, that do cling together 
And choke their art. The merciless Macdonwald — 
Worthy to be a rebel, for to that 
The multiplying villainies of nature 
Do swarm upon him — from the Western Isles 3 
Of kerns and gallowglasses 4 is supplied; 

i Cat. 

2 Toad. Cats and toads were supposed to be familiar spirits of witches. 

3 The Hebrides. 

4 " Of kerns," etc., i.e., with kerns and gallowglasses, who are thus de- 
scribed in Hunter's note, quoted by Furness (Variorum Shakespeare, vol. ii.) : 






scene ii.] MACBETH. 15 

And Fortune, on his damned quarrel smiling, 
Show'd like a rebel's wench : but all's too weak ; 
For brave Macbeth — well he deserves that name — 
Disdaining Fortune, with his brandish'd steel, 
Which smok'd with bloody execution, 
Like valor's minion 1 carv'd out his passage 
Till he fac'd the slave ; 

And ne'er shook hands, nor bade farewell to him, 
Till he unseam'd him from the nave to the chaps, 2 
And fix'd his head upon our battlements. 

Duncan. O valiant cousin ! worthy gentleman ! 

Sergeant. As whence the sun 'gins his reflection 
Shipwrecking storms and direful thunders break, 3 
So from that spring whence comfort seem'd to come 
Discomfort swells. Mark, King of Scotland, mark : 
No sooner justice had, with valor arm'd, 
Compell'd these skipping kerns to trust their heels, 
But the Norweyan lord, surveying vantage, 4 
With furbish'd arms and new supplies of men 
Began a fresh assault. 

Duncan. Dismay 'd not this 

Our captains, Macbeth and Banquo ? 

Sergeant. Yes ; 

As sparrows eagles, or the hare the lion. 
If I say sooth, 5 I must report they were 

" Their foot [speaking of the Milesian race, the ancient inhabitants of Ireland] 
were of two sorts,^the heavy and light armed ; the first were called Galloglachs, 
armed with a helmet and coat of mail bound with iron rings, and wore a long 
sword. . . . The light-armed infantry, called Keherns, fought with bearded 
javelins and short daggers." 

1 Favorite. 2 Cheeks. 

3 " As whence," etc. The allusion is to the vernal equinox, when the 
sun, beginning its reflex course towards us, occasions, by its increasing 
warmth, the disastrous equinoctial storms. 

4 " Surveying vantage," i.e., perceiving an opportunity. 

5 Truth. 



1 6 SHAKESPEARE. [act i 



.1 



As cannons overcharg'd with double cracks ; 

So they doubly redoubled strokes upon the foe. 

Except they meant to bathe in reeking wounds, 

Or memorize 1 another Golgotha,- 

I cannot tell — 

But I am faint ; my gashes cry for help. 

Duncan. So well thy words become thee as thy wounds ; 
They smack of honor both. — Go get him surgeons. — 

[Exit Sergeant, attended. 
Who comes here ■? 

Enter Ross. 

Malcolm. The worthy Thane 3 of Ross. 

Lennox. What a haste looks through his eyes! So should he 
look 
That seems to speak things strange. 

Ross. God save the King ! 

Duncan. Whence cam'st thou, worthy thane ? 

Ross. From Fife, great King ; 

Where the Norweyan banners flout the sky 
And fan our people cold. Norway himself, 
With terrible numbers, 
Assisted by that most disloyal traitor 
The Thane of Cawdor, began a dismal conflict ; 
Till that Bellona's bridegroom, 4 lapp'd in proof, 5 
Confronted him with self-comparisons, 6 
Point against point rebellious, arm 'gainst arm, 

1 Make memorable. 

2 See Matt: xxvii. 33. 

3 An ancient Scotch title of nobility. 

4 " Bellona's bridegroom," i.e., Macbeth. Bellona, or Enyo, as described 
by the Latin poets, was the wife or sister of Mars. She attended him in battle, 
drove his chariot, and watched over his safety generally. 

5 •' Lapp'd in proof," i.e., clad or wrapped in armor proof against all 
blows. 

6 " Selfsame comparisons ; as well armed and endued with equal courage. 



scene in.] MACBETH. 17 

Curbing his lavish spirit ; and, to conclude, 
The victory fell on us. 

Duncan. Great happiness ! 

Ross. That now 

Sweno, the Norways' king, craves composition; 1 
Nor would we deign him burial of his men 
Till he disbursed, at Saint Colme's Inch, 2 
Ten thousand dollars to our general use. 

Duncan. No more that Thane of Cawdor shall deceive 
Our bosom interest. Go pronounce his present death, 
And with his former title greet Macbeth. 

Ross. I'll see it done. 

Duncan. What he hath lost noble Macbeth hath won. [Exeunt. 

Scene III. A Heath near Forres. 
Thunder. Enter the three Witches. 

First Witch. Where hast thou been, sister ? 

Second Witch. Killing swine. 

Third Witch. Sister, where thou ? 

First Witch. A sailor's wife had chestnuts in her lap, 
And munch'd and munch'd and munch'd. " Give me," 

quoth I. 
" Aroint 3 thee, witch ! " the rump-fed ronyon 4 cries. 
Her husband's to Aleppo gone, master o' the Tiger; 
But in a sieve 5 I'll thither sail, 

1 " Craves composition," i.e., sues for terms of peace. 

2 A small island, now called Inchcolm, lying in the Firth of Edinburgh, 
on which, as Dyce notes, are the remains of an abbey dedicated to St. Colomb. 
" Inch" or " Inche " signifies island in the Erse and Irish languages, and 
there are numerous islands on the coast of Scotland having names with this 
affix. 

3 Begone! avaunt! 

4 " Rump-fed ronyon," i.e., an ill-fed, ill-conditioned, scabby woman. 

5 Steevens quotes from the Life of Dr. Fian — a notable sorcerer burned 
at Edinburgh, January, 1591 — how " that he and a number of witches together 
went to sea, each one in a riddle or sieve." 

2 



1 8 SHAKESPEARE. [act i. 

And, like a rat without a tail, 1 
I'll do, I'll do, and I'll do. 

Second Witch. I'll give thee a wind. 

First Witch. Thou'rt kind. 

Third Witch. And I another. 

First Witch. I myself have all the other, 
And the very ports they blow, 2 
All the quarters that they know 
I' the shipman's card. 3 
I will drain him dry as hay : 
Sleep shall neither night nor day 
Hang upon his penthouse lid ; 4 
He shall live a man forbid ; 5 
Weary se'nnights 6 nine times nine 
Shall he dwindle, peak, 7 and pine ; 
Though his bark cannot be lost, 
Yet it shall be tempest-tost. 
Look what I have. 

Second Witch. Show me, show me. 

First Witch. Here I have a pilot's thumb, 
Wreck'd as homeward he did come. [Drum within. 

Third Witch. A drum, a drum ! 
Macbeth doth come. 

All. The weird sisters, hand in hand, 
Posters 8 of the sea and land, 
Thus do go about, about,; 

1 It was supposed that when a witch took the form of an animal, the tail 
would be lacking. 

2 "I myself have," etc., i. e., I myself control the other winds, and the 
very ports upon which they blow. 

3 " Shipman's card," i.e., a circular card on which, radiating from its 
center, are painted the points of the compass. Over this, suspended at the 
center on a pivot, the magnet turns which determines the ship's course. 

4 " Penthouse lid," i.e., the eyelid (figuratively). 

5 Bewitched. 6 Sevennights ; weeks. 
7 Grow thin. ( Rapid travelers. 



scene in.] . MACBETH. 19 

Thrice to thine, and thrice to mine, 
And thrice again to make up nine. 1 
Peace! the charm's wound up. 

Enter Macbeth and Banquo. 

Macbeth. So foul and fair a day I have not seen. 

Banquo. How far is't calPd to Forres ? — What are these 
So wither'd and so wild in their attire, 
That look not like the inhabitants o' the earth, 
And yet are on't ? — Live you ? or are you aught 
That man may question ? You seem to understand me, 
By each at once her choppy finger laying 
Upon her skinny lips. You should be women, 
And yet your beards 2 forbid me to interpret 
That you are so. 

Macbeth. Speak, if you can. What are you ? 

. First Witch. All hail, Macbeth ! hail to thee, Thane of 
Glamis ! 

Second Witch. All hail, Macbeth ! hail to thee, Thane of 
Cawdor ! 

Third Witch. All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king here- 
after ! 

Banquo. Good sir, why do you start, and seem to fear 
Things that do sound so fair ? — F the name of truth, 
Are ye fantastical, 3 or that indeed 
Which outwardly ye show ? My noble partner 
You greet with present grace and great prediction 
Of noble having 4 and of royal hope, 
That he seems rapt withal ; 5 to me you speak not. 

1 The witches here join hands, and dance round and round in a circle. 

2 The witches of Shakespeare's day were supposed to have beards. In 
The Merry Wives of Windsor, Sir Hugh, the Welsh parson, says, " I think 
the 'oman is a witch indeed. I like not when a 'oman has a great peard." 

3 " That is, creatures of fantasy or imagination " (Johnson). 

4 Possession. 

5 " Rapt withal," i.e., carried away with it, as in ecstasy. 



20 SHAKESPEARE. [act i. 

If you can look into the seeds of time, 
And say which grain will grow and which will not, 
Speak then to me, who neither beg nor fear 
Your favors nor your hate. 

First Witch. Hail ! 

Second Witch. Hail ! 

Third Witch. Hail ! 

First Witch. Lesser l than Macbeth, and greater. 

Second Witch. Not so happy, yet much happier. 

Third Witch. Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none : 
So all hail, Macbeth and Banquo ! 

First Witch. Banquo and Macbeth, all hail ! 

Macbeth. Stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me more. 
By Sinel's death I know I am Thane of Glamis ; 
But how of Cawdor ? The Thane of Cawdor lives, 
A prosperous gentleman ; and to be king 
Stands not within the prospect of belief, 
No more than to be Cawdor. Say from whence 
You owe 2 this strange intelligence ; or why 
Upon this blasted heath you stop our way 
With such prophetic greeting. Speak, I charge you. 

[ Witches vanish. 

Banquo. The earth hath bubbles, as the water has, 
And these are of them. Whither are they vanish'd ? 

Macbeth. Into the air ; and what seem'd corporal melted 
As breath into the wind. Would they had stay'd ! 

Banqno. Were such things here as we do speak about ? 
Or have we eaten on the insane root 3 
That takes the reason prisoner ? 

1 Double comparatives and superlatives are often met with in Elizabethan 
writers. 

2 Own ; have. 

3 " Insane root," i.e., the root which causes insanity. Shakespeare 
probably alludes to the hemlock. From Greene's Never too Late (1616), 
Steevens quotes: "You have eaten of the roots of hemlock, that makes 
men's eyes conceit unseen objects." 



scene in.] MACBETH. 21 

Macbeth. Your children shall be kings. 
Banquo. You shall be king. 

Macbeth. And Thane of Cawdor too ; went it not so ? 

Banquo. To the selfsame tune and words. — Who's here? 

Enter Ross and Angus. 

Ross. The King hath happily receiv'd, Macbeth, 
The news of thy success ; and when he reads 
Thy personal venture in the rebels' fight, 
His wonders and his praises do contend 
Which should be thine or his. Silenc'd with that, 1 
In viewing o'er the rest o' the selfsame day, 
He finds thee in the stout Norweyan ranks, 
Nothing afeard of what thyself didst make, 
Strange images of death. As thick as tale 2 
Came post with post ; and every one did bear 
Thy praises in his kingdom's great defense, 
And pour'd them down before him. 

Angus. We are sent 

To give thee from our royal master thanks ; 
Only to herald thee into his sight, 
Not pay thee. 

Ross. And, for an earnest of a greater honor, 
He bade me, from him, call thee Thane of Cawdor ; 
In which addition, 3 hail, most worthy thane ! 
For it is thine. 

Banquo. What, can the devil speak true ? 

Macbeth. The Thane of Cawdor lives ; why do you dress me 
In borrow'd robes ? 

Angus. Who was the thane lives yet, 

1 " Silenc'd with that," i.e., silenced with wonder. " Wrapped in silent 
wonder at the deeds performed by Macbeth " is Malone's explanation. 

2 " As thick as tale," i.e., as fast as they could be told. 

3 Title. 



22 SHAKESPEARE. [act i. 

But under heavy judgment bears that life 

Which he deserves to lose. Whether he was combin'd 

With those of Norway, or did line 1 the rebel 

With hidden help and vantage, or that with both 

He labor'd in his country's wreck, I know not ; 

£ut treasons capital, confess'd and prov'd, 

Have overthrown him. 

Macbeth. [Aside] Glamis, and Thane of Cawdor ! 

The greatest is behind. [To Boss and Angus\ Thanks for your 

pains. 
[To Banquo] Do you not hope your children shall be kings, 
When those that gave the Thane of Cawdor to me 
Promis'd no less to them ? 

Banqiw. That, trusted home, 2 

Might yet enkindle you unto 3 the crown, 
Besides the Thane of Cawdor. But 'tis strange ; 
And oftentimes, to win us to our harm, 
The instruments of darkness tell us truths, 
Win us with honest 4 trifles, to betray's 
In deepest consequence. — 
Cousins, a word, I pray you. 

Macbeth. [Aside] Two truths are told, 

As happy prologues to the swelling act 
Of the imperial theme. — I thank you, gentlemen. 
[Aside] This supernatural soliciting 5 
Cannot be ill, cannot be good. If ill, 
Why hath it given me earnest of success, 
Commencing in a truth ? I am Thane of Cawdor. 
If good, why do I yield to that suggestion 
Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair, 
And make my seated heart knock at my ribs, 

1 Sustain. 

2 " Trusted home," i.e., trusted to the fullest extent. 

3 " Enkindle you unto," i.e., incite you to hope for. 

4 Truthful. 5 Incitement. 



scene in.] MACBETH. 23 

Against the use of nature ? Present fears 

Are less than horrible imaginings ; 

My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical, 1 

Shakes so my single 2 state of man that function 

Is smother'd in surmise, and nothing is 

But what is not. 3 

Banqiw. Look how our partner's rapt. 

Macbeth. [Aside] If chance will have me king, why, chance 
may crown me 
Without my stir. 

Banquo. New honors come upon him, 

Like our strange garments, cleave not to their mold 
But with the aid of use. 

Macbeth. [Aside] Come what come may, 

Time and the hour runs through the roughest day. 

Banquo. Worthy Macbeth, we stay upon your leisure. 

Macbeth. Give me your favor ; my dull brain was wrought 
With things forgotten. Kind gentlemen, your pains 
Are register'd where every day I turn 
The leaf to read them. Let us towards the King. — 
Think upon what hath chanc'd, and, at more time, 
The interim having weigh'd it, 4 let us speak 
Our free hearts each to other. 

Banquo. Very gladly. 

Macbeth. Till then, enough. — Come, friends. [Exeunt. 

1 " Is but fantastical," i.e., is as yet imagined only. 

2 Individual. 

3 " That function is," etc. This passage Dr. Johnson paraphrases : " All 
powers of action are oppressed and crushed by one overwhelming image in 
the mind, and nothing is present to me but that which is really future. Of 
things now about me I have no perception, being intent wholly on that which 
has yet no existence." 

4 " The interim having weigh'd it," i.e., having considered it in the inter- 
val. 



24 SHAKESPEARE. [act i. 

Scene IV. Forres. The Palace. 

Flourish. Enter Duncan, Malcolm, Donalbain, Lennox, and Attend- 
ants. 

Duncan. Is execution done on Cawdor ? Are not 
Those in commission 1 yet return'd ? 

Malcolm. My liege, 

They are not yet come back. But I have spoke 2 
With one that saw him die ; who did report 
That very frankly he confess'd his treasons, 
Implor'd your highness' pardon, and set forth 
A deep repentance. Nothing in his life 
Became him like the leaving it ; he died 
As one that had been studied in his death 
To throw away the dearest thing he owed 3 
As 'twere a careless trifle. 

Duncan. There's no art 

To find the mind's construction in the face ; 
He was a gentleman on whom I built 
An absolute trust. — 

Enter Macbeth, Banquo, Ross, and Angus. 

O worthiest cousin ! 
The sin of my ingratitude even now 
Was heavy on me. Thou art so far before, 
That swiftest wing of recompense is slow 
To overtake thee. Would thou hadst less deserv'd, 
That the proportion both of thanks and payment 
Might have been mine ! only I have left to say, 
More is thy due than more than all can pay. 
Macbeth. The service and the loyalty I owe, 

1 " Those in commission," i.e., those to whom the business of the execu- 
tion was committed. 

2 Participles thus curtailed are frequent in Shakespeare. 

3 Owned. 



scene iv.] MACBETH. 25 

In doing it, pays itself. Your highness' part 

Is to receive our duties ; and our duties 

Are to your throne and state, children and servants ; 

Which do but what they should, by doing everything 

Safe towards l your love and honor. 

Duncan. Welcome hither! 

I have begun to plant thee, and will labor 
To make thee full of growing. — Noble Banquo, 
That hast no less deserv'd, nor must be known 
No less to have done so, let me infold thee 
And hold thee to my heart. 

Banquo. There if I grow, 

The harvest is your own. 

Duncan. My plenteous joys, 

Wanton in fullness, seek to hide themselves 
In drops of sorrow. — Sons, kinsmen, thanes, 
And you whose places are the nearest, know 
We will establish our estate upon 
Our eldest, Malcolm, whom we name hereafter 
The Prince of Cumberland ; 2 which honor must 
Not unaccompanied invest him only, 
But signs of nobleness, like stars, shall shine 
On all deservers. From hence to Inverness, 
And bind us further to you. 

Macbeth. The rest is labor, which is not us'd for you :' 
I'll be myself the harbinger, 4 and make joyful 
The hearing of my wife with your approach, 
So humbly take my leave. 

1 " Safe towards," i.e., with a sure regard to. 

2 By giving to Malcolm the title of the Prince of Cumberland, tDuncan 
indicated that this son was to succeed him upon the throne. 

3 " The rest," etc., i.e., when not in your service, rest itself is labor. 

4 Forerunner ; here used in the original sense of an officer of the royal 
household, whose duty it was to ride in advance of the king and the royal 
party, and engage lodgings for them in any place where they were to stop. 



26 SHAKESPEARE. [act i. 

Duncan. My worthy Cawdor ! 

Macbeth. [Aside] The Prince of Cumberland ! that is a step 
On which I must fall down, or else o'erleap, 
For in my way it lies. — Stars, hide your fires ; 
Let not light see my black and deep desires ; 
The eye wink at the hand ; yet let that be, 1 
Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see. [Exit. 

Duncan. True, worthy Banquo ; he is full so valiant, 
And in his commendations I am fed ; 
It is a banquet to me. Let's after him, 
Whose care is gone before to bid us welcome ;' 
It is a peerless kinsman. [Flourish. Exeunt. 

Scene V. Inverness. Macbettis Castle. 
Enter Lady Macbeth, reading a letter. 

Lady Macbeth. "They met me in the day of success ; and I have 
learned, by the perfectest report, they have more in the?n than mo?'tal 
knowledge. When I burned in desire to question them further, they made 
themselves air, into which they vanished. Whiles I stood rapt in the 
wonder of it, came missives* from the King, who all-hailed me ''Thane 
of Cawdor J by which title, before, these weird sisters saluted me, and 
referred me to the coming on of time with 'Hail, king that shall be / ' 
This have I thought good to deliver thee, my dearest partner of great- 
ness, that thou mightst not lose the dues of rejoicing by being ignorant 
of what greatness is promised thee. Lay it to thy heart, and farewell. " 

Glamis thou art, and Cawdor ; and shalt be 

What thou art promis'd. Yet do I fear thy nature ; 

It is too full o' the milk of human kindness 

To catch the nearest way. Thou wouldst be great ; 

Art not without ambition, but without 

The illness 3 should attend it ; what thou wouldst highly, 

That wouldst thou holily ; wouldst not play false, 

And yet wouldst wrongly win. Thou'dst have, great Glamis, 

1 Take place. 2 Messengers. 3 Wickedness. 



scen e v. J MA CBE TH. 2 7 

That which cries, " Thus thou must do, if thou have it ;" 
And that which rather thou dost fear to do, 
Than wishest should be undone. Hie thee hither, 
That I may pour my spirits in thine ear, 
And chastise with the valor of my tongue 
All that impedes thee from the golden round 
Which fate and metaphysical 1 aid doth seem 
To have thee crown'd withal. — 

Enter a Messenger. 

What is your tidings ? 

Messenger. The King comes here to-night. 

Lady Macbeth. Thou'rt mad to say it: 

Is not thy master with him ? who, were't so, 
Would have inform'd for preparation. 

Messenger. So please you, it is true ; our Thane is coming. 
One of my fellows had the speed of him, 
Who, almost dead for breath, had scarcely more 
Than would make up his message. 

Lady Macbeth. Give him tending ; 

He brings great news. — [Exit Messenger. 

The raven himself is hoarse 
That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan 
Under my battlements. — Come, you spirits 
That tend on mortal 2 thoughts, unsex me here, 
And fill me from the Grown to the toe topful 
Of direst cruelty ! make thick my blood ; 
Stop up the access and passage to remorse, 3 
That no compunctious visitings of nature 
Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between 
The effect and it ! Come to my woman's breasts, 
And take my milk for gall, you murdering ministers, 
Wherever in your sightless substances 
You wait on Nature's mischief! — Come, thick night, 

1 Supernatural. 2 Deadly. 3 Compassion. 



28 SHAKESPEARE. [act i. 

And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell, 
That my keen knife see not the wound it makes, 
Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark, 
To cry "Hold, hold!" — 

Enter Macbeth. 

Great Glamis ! worthy Cawdor ! 
Greater than both, by the all-hail hereafter ! 
Thy letters have transported me beyond 
This ignorant present, 1 and I feel now 
The future in the instant. 

Macbeth. My dearest love, 

Duncan comes here to-night. 

Lady Macbeth. And when goes hence ? 

Macbeth. To-morrow, — as he purposes. 

Lady Macbeth. O, never 

Shall sun that morrow see ! 
Your face, my thane, is as a book where men 
May read strange matters. To beguile the time, 
Look like the time ; bear welcome in your eye, 
Your hand, your tongue ; look like the innocent flower, 
But be the serpent under't. He that's coming 
Must be provided for ; and you shall put 
This night's great business into my dispatch, 2 
Which shall to all our nights and days to come 
Give solely sovereign sway and masterdo*n. 

Macbeth. We will speak further. 

Lady Macbeth. Only look up clear , 

To alter favor ever is to fear. 3 
Leave all the rest to me. \Exeunt. 

1 " This ignorant present," i.e., this present which knows nothing of the 
future. 

2 Management. 

3 " To alter favor," etc., i.e., to change countenance indicates fear in you, 
and causes it in others. 



scen e vi . ] MA CBE TH. 2 9 

Scene VI. Before Macbeth' 1 s Castle. 

Hautboys and torches. Enter Duncan, Malcolm, Donalbain, Banquo, 
Lennox, Macduff, Ross, Angus, and Attendants. 

Duncan. This castle hath a pleasant seat ; the air 
Nimbly and sweetly recommends itself 
Unto our gentle senses. 

Banquo. This guest of summer, 

The temple-haunting martlet, 1 does approve, 
By his lov'd mansionry, that the heaven's breath 
Smells wooingly here ; no jutty, frieze, 
Buttress, nor coign 2 of vantage, but this bird 
Hath made his pendent bed and procreant cradle : 
Where they most breed and haunt, I have observ'd, 
The air is delicate. 

Enter Lady Macbeth. 

Duncan. See, see, our honor'd hostess ! — 

The love that follows us sometime 3 is our trouble, 
Which still we thank as love. Herein I teach you 
How you shall bid God 'ild us 4 for your pains, 
And thank us for your trouble. 

Lady Macbeth. All our service, 

In every point twice done and then done double, 
Were poor and single 5 business to contend 
Against those honors, deep and broad, wherewith 
Your Majesty loads our house. For those of old, 
And the late dignities heap'd up to them, 
We rest your hermits. 6 

1 Martin, a bird of the swallow kind. Its nest of mud is built beneath the 
eaves and sheltered projections of lofty buildings, especially in the well pro- 
tected angles of the cornices and gables of temples, towers, castles, etc. 

2 Corner or angle. 3 Sometimes. 

4 " 'Ild us," a contraction of " yield us," i.e., reward us. 5 Weak. 
6 " We rest your hermits," i.e., " we, as hermits or beadsmen, will always 
pray for you " (Steevens). 



> 



30 SHAKESPEARE. [act i. 

Duncan. Where's the Thane of Cawdor ? 

We cours'd him at the heels, and had a purpose 
To be his purveyor; 1 but he rides well, 
And his great love, sharp as his spur, hath holp 2 him 
To his home before us. Fair and noble hostess, 
We are your guest to-night. 

Lady Macbeth. Your servants ever 

Have theirs, themselves, and what is theirs, in compt, 3 
To make their audit at your highness' pleasure, 
Still to return your own. 

Duncan. Give me your hand ; 

Conduct me to mine host ; we love him highly, 
And shall continue our graces towards him. 
By your leave, hcstess. [Exeunt. 

Scene VII. Macbeth' s Castle. 

Hautboys and torches. Enter a Sewer, 4 and divers Servants with dishes and 
service, and pass over the stage. Then enter Macbeth. 



Macbeth. If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well. 
It were done quickly, if th' assassination 
Could trammel up the consequence, and catch 
With his 5 surcease 6 success ; that but this blow 
Might be the be-all and the end-all here, 
But here, upon this bank and shoal of time, 
We'd jump the life to come. 7 But in these cases 
We still have judgment here, that 8 we but teach 

1 "To be his purveyor," i.e., to be in advance of him. A purveyor is 
properly one sent ahead of a party to obtain food for them. 

2 Helped. 3 " In compt," i.e., accountable. 

4 An upper servant who prepared and served the table ; a head waiter. 

5 Its : " assassination " is the antecedent. 6 Ending. 

7 " If th' assassination," etc., i.e., if the murder, when done, could insure 
complete success here in this life, " upon this bank and shoal of time," we 
would risk the life to come. 

8 Since. 



scene vii.] MACBETH. 31 

Bloody instructions, which, being taught, return 
To plague the inventor. This even-handed justice 
Commends the ingredients of our poison'd chalice 
To our own lips. He's here in double trust : 
First, as I am his kinsman and his subject, 
Strong both against the deed ; then as his host, 
Who should against his murderer shut the door, 
Not bear the knife myself. Besides, this Duncan 
Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been 
So clear in his great office, that his virtues 
Will plead like angels, trumpet-tongu'd, against 
The deep damnation of his taking off ; 
And pity, like a naked newborn babe, 
Striding the blast, or heaven's cherubim, 1 hors'd 
Upon the sightless couriers of the air, 2 
Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye, 
That tears shall drown the wind. I have no spur 
To prick the sides of my intent, but only 
Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself 
And falls on th' other — 

Enter Lady Macbeth. 

How now ! what news ? 
Lady Macbeth. He has almost supp'd. Why have you left 

the chamber ? 
Macbeth. Hath he ask'd for me ? 

Lady Macbeth. Know you not he has ? 

Macbeth. We will proceed no further in this business. 
He hath honor'd me of late, and I have bought 3 
Golden opinions from all sorts of people, 

1 "A naked newborn babe," etc. " Either like a mortal babe, terrible 
in helplessness, or like heaven's child angels, mighty in love and compas- 
sion " (Rev. C. E. Moberly). 

2 " Sightless couriers of the air," i.e., the invisible winds. 

3 Gained. 



32 SHAKESPEARE. [act i. 

Which would ] be worn now in their newest gloss, 
Not cast aside so soon. 

Lady Macbeth. Was the hope drunk 

Wherein you dress'd yourself ? hath it slept since ? 
And wakes it now, to look so green and pale 
At what it did so freely ? From this time 
Such I account thy love. Art thou afeard 
To be the same in thine own act and valor 
As thou art in desire ? Wouldst thou have that 
Which thou esteem'st the ornament of life, 
And live a coward in thine own esteem, 
Letting " I dare not " wait upon " I would," 
Like the poor cat i' the adage ? 2 

Macbeth. Prithee, peace. 

I dare do all that may become a man ; 
Who dares do more is none. 

Lady MacbetJi. What beast was't, then, 

That made you break this enterprise to me ? 
When you durst do it, then you were a man ; 
And, to be more than what you w r ere, you would 
Be so much more the man. Nor time nor place 
Did then adhere, 3 and yet you would make both ; 
They have made themselves, and that their fitness now 
Does unmake you. 

Macbeth. If we should fail, — 

Lady Macbeth. We fail! 

But screw your courage to the sticking place, 4 
And we'll not fail. When Duncan is asleep, — 

i Should. 

2 "Letting 'I dare not,'" etc. Boswell (as quoted by Furness) notes 
that " the adage ' The cate would eate fish, and would not wete her feete,' is 
among Hey wood's Proverbs (1566)." 

3 Accord. 

4 " But screw," etc. Probably a metaphor from the tuning of a stringed 
instrument. 



scene vii.] MACBETH. 33 

Whereto the rather shall his day's hard journey 
Soundly invite him, — his two chamberlains 
Will I with wine and wassail so convince, 1 
That memory, the warder of the brain, 
Shall be a fume, and the receipt 2 of reason 
A limbeck 3 only. When in swinish sleep 
Their drenched natures lie, as in a death, 
What cannot you and I perform upon 
The unguarded Duncan ? what not put upon 
His spongy officers, who shall bear the guilt 
Of our great quell ? 4 

Macbeth. Bring forth men children only ; 

For thy undaunted mettle should compose 
Nothing but males. Will it not be receiv'd, 5 
When we have mark'd with blood those sleepy two 
Of his own chamber, and us'd their very daggers, 
That they have done't ? 

Lady Macbeth. Who dares receive it other, 

As we shall make our griefs and clamor roar 
Upon his death ? 

Macbeth. I am settled, and bend up 

Each corporal agent 6 to this terrible feat. 
Away, and mock the time with fairest show ; 
False face must hide what the false heart doth know. \Exeunt. 

1 " With wine and wassail so convince," i.e., with drink and carousing so 
overcome. 

2 Receptacle. 

3 An alembic ; a still, or rather the cap of a still. 

4 Murder. 5 Believed. 

6 " Each corporal agent," i.e., every faculty of the body. 



34 SHAKESPEARE. 



ACT II. 



[ACT II. 



Scene I. Court of Macbeth 's Castle. 
Enter Banquo, and Fleance bearing a torch before him. 

Ban quo. How goes the night, boy ? 

Fleance. The moon is down ; I have not heard the clock. 

Banquo. And she goes down at twelve. 

Fleance. I take't, 'tis later, sir. 

Banquo. Hold ; take my sword. — There's husbandry l in heaven ; 
Their candles are all out. — Take thee that, too. 
A heavy summons lies like lead upon me, 2 
And yet I would not sleep. — Merciful Powers, 
Restrain in me the cursed thoughts that nature 
Gives way to in repose ! — 

Enter Macbeth, and a Servant with a torch. 

Give me my sword. — 
Who's there ? 

Macbeth. A friend. 

Banquo. What, sir, not yet at rest ? The king's abed — 
He hath been in unusual pleasure, and 
Sent forth great largess 3 to your offices. 4 
This diamond he greets your wife withal, 
By the name of most kind hostess — and shut up 
In measureless content. 5 

Macbeth. Being unprepar'd, 

i Thrift. 

2 " A heavy summons," etc., i.e., a strong disposition to sleep is upon me. 

3 Gifts of money. 4 The servants' departments. 

5 " Shut up in measureless content," i.e., retiring to sleep most happy, and 
contented with everything around him. 



scene I.] MACBETH. 35 

Our will became the servant to defect, 
Which else should free have wrought. 1 

Banquo. All's well. 

I dreamt last night of the three weird sisters ; 
To you they have show'd some truth. 

Macbeth. I think not of them. 

Yet, when we can entreat an hour to serve, 
We would spend it in some words upon that business, 
If you would grant the time. 

Banquo. At your kind'st leisure. 

Macbeth. If you shall cleave to my consent, when 'tis, 2 
It shall make honor for you. 

Banquo. So I lose none 

In seeking to augment it, but still keep 
My bosom franchis'd and allegiance clear, 
I shall be counsel'd. 

Macbeth. Good repose the while ! 

Banquo. Thanks, sir ; the like to you ! 

[Exeunt Banquo and Fleance. 

Macbeth. Go bid thy mistress, when my drink is ready, 
She strike upon the bell. Get thee to bed. — [Exit Servant. 
Is this a dagger which I see before me, 
The handle towards my hand ? — Come, let me clutch thee. 
I have thee not, and yet I see thee still. 
Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible 
To feeling as to sight ? or art thou but 
A dagger of the mind, a false creation, 
Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain ? 
I see thee yet, in form as palpable 
As this which now I draw. 
Thou marshal'st me the way that I was going ; 
And such an instrument I was to use. — 

1 •' Being unprepar'd," etc., i.e., lack of time for preparation constrained 
the free working of my will. 

2 " Cleave to my consent," i.e., join my party when it is established. 



36 SHAKESPEARE. [act ii. 

Mine eyes are made the fools o' the other senses, 

Or else worth all the rest ; — I see thee still, 

And on thy blade and dudgeon l gouts 2 of blood, 

Which was not so before. — There's no such thing; 

It is the bloody business which informs 3 

Thus to mine eyes. Now o'er the one half world 

Nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse 

The curtain'd sleep ; witchcraft celebrates 

Pale Hecate's 4 offerings, and wither'd murder, 

Alarum'd 5 by his sentinel, the wolf, 

Whose howl's his watch, 6 thus with his stealthy pace, 

With Tarquin's ravishing strides, 7 towards his design 

Moves like a ghost. — Thou sure and firm-set earth, 

Hear not my steps, which way they walk, for fear 

Thy very stones prate of my whereabout, 

And take the present horror from the time, 

Which now suits with it. Whiles I threat, he lives ; 

Words to the heat of deeds too cool breath gives. 8 ,.— 

\A bell rings. 
I go, and it is done ; the bell invites me. — 
Hear it not, Duncan ; for it is a knell 
That summons thee to heaven or to hell. [Exit. 

1 Handle. 2 Drops. 3 Creates forms. 

4 Hecate, according to classic mythology the wite of Pluto and Queen of the 
infernal regions, was supposed to preside over witchcraft and enchantments, 
and to control the incantations of evil spirits. Dogs, lambs, and honey were 
generally off ered to her. The word is dissyllabic here {Hec'ate), as it always 
is in Shakespeare's verse. 

5 Aroused. 6 Watchword. 

7 " Tarquin's ravishing strides," alluding to Sextus Tarquinius, by whom 
Lucretia, the Roman matron, was dishonored. 

8 Singular in form for the sake of the rhyme, though having a plural sub- 
ject. The singular noun "breath," just preceding the verb, makes the 
violation of a grammatical rule less noticeable. 



scene ii.] MACBETH. 37 

Scene II. The Same. 
Enter Lady Macbeth. 

Lady Macbeth. That which hath made them drunk hath made 
me bold ; 
What hath quench'd them hath given me fire. — Hark ! Peace ! — 
It was the owl that shriek'd, the fatal bellman, 
Which gives the stern'st good night. 1 He is about it ; 
The doors are open, and the surfeited grooms 
Do mock their charge with snores ; I have drugg'd their possets, 
That death and nature do contend about them, 
Whether they live or die. 

Macbeth. [ Within] Who's there ? what, ho ! 

Lady Macbeth. Alack! I am afraid they have awak'd, 
And 'tis not done. The attempt and not the deed 
Confounds us. Hark ! I laid their daggers ready ; 
He could not miss 'em. Had he not resembled 
My father as heslept, I had done't. — 

Enter Macbeth. 

My husband ! 

Macbeth. I have done the deed. Didst thou not hear a noise ? 

Lady Macbeth. I heard the owl scream and the crickets cry. 
Did not you speak ? 

Macbeth. When ? 

Lady Macbeth. Now. 

Macbeth. As I descended ? 

Lady Macbeth. Ay. 

Macbeth. Hark ! 
Who lies i' the second chamber ? 

Lady Macbeth. Donalbain. 

Macbeth. This is a sorry sight. [Lookifig on his hands. 

1 The hooting of the owl is even now heard by many persons with super- 
stitious dread, as an ominous cry. 



3 8 SHAKESPEARE. [act it. 

Lady Macbeth. A foolish thought, to say a sorry sight. 

Macbeth. There's one did laugh in's sleep, and one cried 
" Murder ! " 
That they did wake each other ; I stood and heard them ; 
But they did say their prayers, and address'd * them 
Again to sleep. 

Lady Macbeth. There are two lodg'd together. 

Macbeth. One cried " God bless us ! " and "Amen ! " the other, 
As 2 they had seen me with these hangman's hands, 
Listening their fear. I could not say "Amen! " 
When they did say " God bless us ! " 

Lady Macbeth. Consider it not so deeply. 

Macbeth. But wherefore could not I pronounce " Amen "? 
I had most need of blessing, and "Amen " 
Stuck in my throat. 

Lady Macbeth. These deeds must not be thought 
After these ways ; so, it will make us mad. 
^>< Macbeth. Methought I heard a voice cry, " Sleep no more ! 
Macbeth does murder sleep," — the innocent sleep, 
Sleep that knits up the ravel'd 3 sleave 4 of care, 
The death of each day's life, sore labor's bath, 
Balm of hurt minds, great Nature's second course, 5 
Chief nourisher in life's feast, — -^^ 

Lady Macbeth. What do you mean ? 

Macbeth. Still it cried, " Sleep no more ! " to all the house ; 
" Glamis hath murder'd sleep, and therefore Cawdor 
Shall sleep no more ; Macbeth shall sleep no more." 

Lady Macbeth. Who was it that thus cried ? Why, worthy 
thane, 
You do unbend your noble strength to think 
So brainsickly of things. Go get some water, 
And wash this filthy witness from your hand. 
Why did you bring these daggers from the place ? 

1 Prepared. 2 As if. 3 Tangled. * Soft floss or silk. 

5 " Second course," i.e., the chief course at the feast. 



scene ii.] MACBETH. 39 

They must lie there ; go carry them, and smear 
The sleepy grooms with blood. 

Macbeth. I'll go no more ; 

I am afraid to think what I have done ; 
Look on't again I dare not. 

Lady Macbeth. Infirm of purpose ! 

Give me the daggers ; the sleeping and the dead 
Are but as pictures ; 'tis the eye of childhood 
That fears a painted devil. If he do bleed, 
I'll gild the faces of the grooms withal ; 
For it must seem their guilt. [Exit. Knocking within. 

Macbeth. Whence is that knocking ? 

How is't with me, when every noise appals me ? 
What hands are here ? Ha ! they pluck out mine eyes. 
Will all great Neptune's ocean x wash this blood 
Clean from my hand ? No ; this my hand will rather 
The multitudinous seas incarnadine, 
Making the green one red. 2 

Reenter Lady Macbeth. 

Lady Macbeth. My hands are of your color, but I shame 
To wear a heart so white. [Knocking within.] I hear a knocking 
At the south entry : retire we to our chamber ; 
A little water clears us of this deed ; 
How easy is it, then ! Your constancy 
Hath left you unattended. 3 [Knocking within.] Hark ! more 

knocking. 
Get on your nightgown, 4 lest occasion call us, 

1 The ancient mythologists tell us, that, when Jupiter assigned to each of 
his brothers a separate portion of the universe, he decreed that Neptune 
should be given all the waters upon the face of nature, and be sole monarch 
of the ocean. 

2 " The multitudinous seas," etc., i.e., change the innumerable waves of 
the ocean to a carnation hue, making its natural green color a uniform red. 

3 " Your constancy," etc., i.e., your resolution has forsaken you. 

4 Dressing gown, as we should say. 



40 SHAKESPEARE. [act ii. 

And show us to be watchers. Be not lost 
So poorly in your thoughts. 

Macbeth. To know my deed, 'twere best not know myself.— 

[Knocking within. 
Wake Duncan with thy knocking ! I would thou couldst ! 

[Exeunt. 

Scene III. The Same. 

Enter a Porter. Knocking within. 

Porter. Here's a knocking indeed ! If a man were porter of 
hell gate, he should have old turning the key. 1 [Knocking within.] 
Knock, knock, knock ! Who's there, i' the name of Beelzebub ? 
— Here's a farmer that hang'd himself on the expectation of 
plenty. 2 — Come in time; have napkins enow 3 about you; here 
you'll sweat for't. — [Knocking within .] Knock, knock ! Who's 
there, in the other devil's name ? — Faith, here's an equivocator, 
that could swear in both the scales against either scale ; who com- 
mitted treason enough for God's sake, yet could not equivocate to 
heaven. — O, come in, equivocator. — [Knocking within.] Knock, 
knock, knock ! Who's there ? — Faith, here's an English tailor 
come hither for stealing out of a French hose. 4 — Come in, tailor ; 
here you may roast your goose. 5 — [Knocking within. \ Knock, 
knock ! never at quiet ! What are you ? — But this place is too cold 
for hell. I'll devil-porter it no further; I had thought to have let 
in some of all professions that go the primrose way to the ever- 
lasting bonfire. — [Knocking within.] Anon, anon ! I pray you, 
remember the porter. [Opens the gate. 

1 " Have old," etc., i.e., be kept busy unlocking the door. " Old " as an 
intensive frequently occurs in Shakespeare. 

2 Because, with plentiful crops, prices would decline. 

3 " Napkins enow," i.e., pocket handkerchiefs enough. 

4 Trousers. It is an old joke against tailors, that they always steal from 
the material given out to them. 

5 A tailor's smoothing iron. It received its name from the resemblance 
of the handle to the neck of a goose. 



scen e 1 1 1 . ] MA CBE Til. 4 l 

Enter Macduff and Lennox. 

Macduff. Was it so late, friend, ere you went to bed, 
That you do lie so late ? 

Porter. Faith, sir, we were carousing till the second cock. 1 

Macduff. I believe drink gave thee the lie last night. 

Porter. That it did, sir, i' the very throat on me ; but I requited 
him for his lie; and, I think, being too strong for him, though 
he took up my legs sometime, yet I made a shift to cast 2 him. 

Macduff. Is thy master stirring ? 

Enter Macbeth. 

Our knocking has awak'd him ; here he comes. 

Lennox. Good morrow, noble sir. 

Macbeth. Good morrow, both. 

Macduff. Is the King stirring, worthy thane ? 

Macbeth. Not yet. 

Macduff. He did command me to call timely on him ; 
I have almost slipp'd the hour. 

Macbeth. I'll bring you to him. 

Macduff. I know this is a joyful trouble to you ; 
But yet 'tis one. 

Macbeth. The labor we delight in physics 3 pain. 
This is the door. 

Macduff. I'll make so bold to call, 

For 'tis my limited service. 4 [Exit. 

Lennox. Goes the King hence to-day ? 

Macbeth. He does; — he did appoint so. 

Lennox. The night has been unruly : where we lay, 
Our chimneys were blown down ; and, as they say, 
Lamentings heard i' the air, — strange screams of death, 
And prophesying, with accents terrible, 

1 " Till the second cock," i.e., till the cock crew the second time. 

2 Overthrow. 3 Relieves. 

4 " My limited service," i.e., service specially assigned to me. 



42 SHAKESPEARE. [act 11. 

Of dire combustion and confus'd events 
New hatch'd to the woeful time. The ob'scure bird 1 
Clamor'd the livelong night. Some say the Earth 
Was feverous and did shake. 

Macbeth. 'Twas a rough night. 

Leimox. My young remembrance cannot parallel 
A fellow to it. 

Reenter MACDUFF. 

Macduff. O horror, horror, horror ! Tongue nor heart 

Cannot conceive nor name thee ! 

Macbeth. ) _ in , _ 

> What's the matter ? 

Lennox. ) 

Macduff. Confusion 2 now hath made his masterpiece ! 
Most sacrilegious murder hath broke ope 
The Lord's anointed temple, and stole thence 
The life o' the building ! 

Macbeth. What is't you say ? the life ? 

Lennox. Mean you his Majesty ? 

Macduff. Approach the chamber, and destroy your sight 
With a new Gorgon. 3 Do not bid me speak ; 
See, and then speak yourselves. 

\Exeuiit Macbeth and Lennox. 
Awake, awake ! 
Ring the alarum bell. — Murder and treason ! — 

1 The owl. 2 Destruction. 

3 It is fabled that there were three Gorgons, sisters, of whom Medusa, 
the youngest, was very handsome. Wishing to leave her home, a desolate 
land, she entreated Minerva to let her go and visit the delightful sunny 
south. When Minerva refused her request, she reviled the goddess, declar- 
ing that nothing but her conviction that mortals would no longer consider 
her beautiful, if they but once beheld Medusa, could have prompted this 
denial. This remark so incensed Minerva, that, to punish her for her vanity, 
the goddess changed Medusa's beautiful curling locks into hissing, writhing 
serpents, and decreed that one glance into her still beautiful face would suffice 
to change the beholder into stone, (See Guerber's Myths of Greece and 
Rome, p. 242.) 



scene in.] MACBETH. 43 

Banquo and Donalbain ! Malcolm! awake ! 

Shake off this downy sleep, death's counterfeit, 

And look on death itself ! Up, up, and see 

The great doom's image ! l Malcolm ! Banquo ! 

As from your graves rise up, and walk like sprites, 

To countenance this horror ! 2 — Ring the bell. [Bell rings. 

Enter Lady Macbeth. 

Lady Macbeth. What's the business, 
That such a hideous trumpet calls to parley 
The sleepers of the house ? Speak, speak ! 

Macduff. O gentle lady, 

'Tis not for you to hear what I can speak ; 
The repetition, in a woman's ear, 
Would murder as it fell. — 

Enter Banquo. 

O Banquo, Banquo, 
Our royal master's murder'd ! 

Lady Macbeth. Woe, alas ! 

What ! in our house ? 

Banquo. Too cruel anywhere. — 

Dear Duff, I prithee, contradict thyself, 
And say it is not so. 

Reenter Macbeth and Lennox, with Ross. 

Macbeth. Had I but died an hour before this chance, 
I had liv'd a blessed time ; for, from this instant 
There's nothing serious in mortality; 3 
All is but toys ; renown and grace is dead ; 
The wine of life is drawn, and the mere lees 4 
Is left this vault to brag of. 

1 " The great doom's image," i.e., a sight as terrible as the last judgment. 

2 " Walk like sprites," etc. Ghosts are the only proper accompaniments 
to this horror. 

3 Human life. 4 Dregs of the cask. 



44 SHAKESPEARE. [act ii. 

Enter Malcolm and Donalbain. 

Donalbain. What is amiss ? 

Macbeth. You are, and do not know't ; 

The spring, the head, the fountain of your blood 
Is stopp'd, — the very source of it is stopp'd. 

Macduff. Your royal father's murder'd. 

Malcolm. Oh ! by whom ? 

Lennox. Those of his chamber, as it seem'd, had done't : 
Their hands and faces were all badg'd with blood ; 
So were their daggers, which unwip'd we found 
Upon their pillows. 

They star'd and were distracted ; no man's life 
Was to be trusted with them. 

Macbeth. O, yet I do repent me of my fury, 
That I did kill them. 

Macduff. Wherefore did you so ? 

Macbeth. Who can be wise, amaz'd, 1 temperate and furious, 
Loyal and neutral, in a moment ? No man. 
The expedition 2 of my violent love 
Outran the pauser, reason. Here lay Duncan, 
His silver skin lac'd with his golden blood ; 
And his gash'd stabs look'd like a breach in nature 
For ruin's wasteful entrance : there, the murderers, 
Steep'd in the colors of their trade, their daggers 
Unmannerly breech'd with gore. 3 Who could refrain, 
That had a heart to love, and in that heart 
Courage to make's love known ? 

Lady Macbeth. Help me hence, ho ! 

Macduff. Look to the lady. 

Malcolm. [Aside to Donalbain] Why do we hold our tongues, 
That most may claim this argument for ours ? 4 

l Bewildered. 2 Haste. 

3 " Breech'd with gore," i.e., covered with blood. 

4 " That most may claim," etc., i.e., who have the greatest interest in the 
matter. 



scene III.] MACBETH. 45 

Do?ialbain. [Aside to Malcolm] What should be spoken here, 
where our fate, 
Hid in an auger hole, may rush and seize us ? 
Let's away ; 
Our tears are not yet brew'd. 

Malcolm. [Aside to Dotialbain\ Nor our strong sorrow 
Upon the foot of motion. 

Banquo. Look to the lady. — 

[Lady Macbeth is carried out. 
And when we have our naked frailties hid, 
That suffer in exposure, 1 let us meet, 
And question 2 this most bloody piece of work, 
To know it further. Fears and scruples shake us. 
In the great hand of God I stand ; and thence 
Against the undivulg'd pretense I fight 
Of treasonous malice. 

Macduff. And so do I. 

All. So all. 

Macbeth. Let's briefly put on manly readiness, 
And meet i' the hall together. 

All. Well contented. 

[Exeunt all but Malcolm and Donalbain. 

Malcolm. What will you do ? Let's not consort with them ; 
To show an unfelt sorrow is an office 
Which the false man does easy. I'll to England. 

Donalbain. To Ireland I ; our separated fortune 
Shall keep us both the safer ; where we are 
There's daggers in men's smiles ; the near in blood, 
The nearer bloody. 3 

1 " And when we have," etc., is thus paraphrased by Steevens : " When we 
have clothed our half-dressed bodies, which may take cold from being exposed 
to the air." 

2 Examine thoroughly. 

3 " The near in blood," etc., i.e., the nearer the kin, the more the danger 
to our lives. 



46 SHAKESPEARE. [act ii. 

Malcolm. This murderous shaft that's shot 

Hath not yet lighted, and our safest way- 
Is to avoid the aim. Therefore, to horse ; 
And let us not be dainty of leave-taking, 
But shift away ; l there's warrant in that theft 
Which steals itself when there's no mercy left. [Exeunt. 

Scene IV. Without the Castle. 
Enter Ross and an old Man. 

Old Man. Threescore and ten I can remember well ; 
Within the volume of which time I've seen 
Hours dreadful and things strange ; but this sore night 
Hath trifled former knowings. 

Ross. Ah, good father, 

Thou seest, the heavens, as troubled with manis act, 
Threaten his bloody stage : by the clock 'tis day, 
And yet dark night strangles the traveling lamp. 2 
Is't night's predominance, or the day's shame, 
That darkness does the face of earth entomb, 
When living light should kiss it ? 

Old Man. 'Tis unnatural 

Even like the deed that's done. On Tuesday last 
A falcon, towering in her pride of place, 3 
Was by a mousing owl hawk'd at 4 and kill'd. 

Ross. And Duncan's horses, — a thing most strange and cer- 
tain, — 
Beauteous and swift, the minions 5 of their race, 
Turn'd wild in nature, broke their stalls, flung out, 
Contending 'gainst obedience, as they would make 
War with mankind. 

1 " Shift away," i.e., get away quietly and quickly. 

2 " The traveling lamp," i.e., the sun. 

3 " Towering," etc., is a phrase of falconry meaning soaring at her highest 
elevation. 

4 " Hawk'd at," i.e., pounced upon. 5 Chosen darlings. 



scene iv.] MACBETH. 47 

Old Man. Tis said they eat 1 each other. 

Ross. They did so, to the amazement of mine eyes, 
That look'd upon't. Here comes the good Macduff. — 

Enter Macduff. 

How goes the world, sir, now ? 

Macduff. Why, see you not ? 

Ross. Is't known who did this more than bloody deed ? 
' Macduff. Those that Macbeth hath slain. 

Ross. Alas the day ! 

What good could they pretend ? 

Macduff. They were suborn'd : 2 

Malcolm and Donalbain, the King's two sons, 
Are stol'n away and fled, which puts upon them 
Suspicion of the deed. 

Ross. 'Gainst nature still ! — 

Thriftless ambition, that wilt ravin up 3 
Thine own life's means ! — Then 'tis most like 
The sovereignty will fall upon Macbeth. 

Macduff. He is already nam'd, and gone to Scone 4 
To be invested. 

Ross. Where is Duncan's body ? 

1 Old and colloquial form for " ate." 2 Bribed; hired. 

3 " Ravin up," i.e., eat ravenously. 

4 " The ancient royal city of Scone, supposed to have been the capital of 
the Pictish kingdom, lay two miles northward from the present city of Perth. 
It was the residence of the Scottish monarchs as early as the reign of Ken- 
neth McAlpin, and there was a long series of kings crowned on the cele- 
brated stone inclosed in a chair, now used as the seat of our sovereigns at 
coronation in Westminster Abbey. This stone was removed to Scone from 
Dunstaffnage, the yet earlier residence of the Scottish kings, by Kenneth II., 
soon after the founding of the Abbey of Scone by the Culdees in 838, and was 
transferred by Edward I. to Westminster Abbey in 1296. This remarkable 
stone is reported to have found its way to Dunstaffnage from the plain of Luz, 
where it was the pillow of the patriarch Jacob while he dreamed his dream (! ). 
An aisle of the Abbey of Scone remains. A few poor habitations alone exist 
on the site of the ancient royal city." (Knight.) 



4-8 SHAKESPEARE. Pact hi. 

Macduff. Carried to Colme-kill, 1 
The sacred storehouse of his predecessors, 
And guardian of their bones. 

Ross. Will you to Scone ? 

Macduff. No, cousin, I'll to Fife. 

Ross. Well, I will thither. 

Macduff. Well, may you see things well done there ; — adieu ! — 
Lest our old robes sit easier than our new ! 2 

Ross. Farewell, father. 

Old Man. God's benison go with you, and with those 
That would make good of bad, and friends of foes ! 

[Exeunt. 



ACT III. 

Scene I. Forres. A Room in the Palace. 

Enter Banquo. 

Banquo. Thou hast it now, — king, Cawdor, Glamis, all, 
As the weird women promis'd ; and, I fear, 
Thou play'dst most foully for't. Yet it was said 
It should not stand in thy posterity, 
But that myself should be the root and father 
Of many kings. If there come truth from them — 

1 Colmekill, or Iona, one of the Western Isles (Hebrides), now called 
Icolmkill. Knight notes that " this little island, only three miles long and 
one and a half broad, was once the most important spot of the whole cluster of 
British Isles. It was inhabited by Druids previous to the year 563, when 
Colum McFelim McFergus, afterwards called St. Columba, landed and began 
to preach Christianity. A monastery was soon established and a noble 
cathedral built, of which the ruins still remain. The reputation of these 
establishments extended over the whole Christian world for some centuries, 
and devotees of rank strove for admission into them ; die records of royal 
deeds were preserved there, and there the bones of kings reposed." 

2 " Lest our old robes," etc., i.e., lest things go from bad to worse. 



scene I.] MACBETH. 49 

As upon thee, Macbeth, their speeches shine — 
Why, by the verities on thee made good, 
May they not be my oracles as well, 
And set me up in hope ? — But hush ! no more. 

Sennet l sounded. Enter Macbeth, as king, Lady Macbeth, as queen $ 
Lennox, Ross, Lords, Ladies, and Attendants. 

Macbeth. Here's our chief guest. 

Lady Macbeth. If he had been forgotten, 

It had been as a gap in our great feast, 
And all-thing 2 unbecoming. 

Macbeth. To-night we hold a solemn supper, 3 sir, 
And I'll request your presence. 

Banquo. Let your highness 

Command upon me ; to the which my duties 
Are with a most indissoluble tie 
Forever knit. 

Macbeth. Ride you this afternoon ? 

Banquo. Ay, my good lord. 

Macbeth. We should have else desir'd your good advice — 
Which still 4 hath been both grave and prosperous — 
In this day's council ; but we'll take to-morrow. 
Is't far you ride ? 

Banquo, As far, my lord, as will fill up the time 
'Twixt this and supper : go not my horse the better, 
I must become a borrower of the night 
For a dark hour or twain. 

Macbeth. Fail not our feast. 

Banquo. My lord, I will not. 

Macbeth. We hear our bloody cousins are bestow'd 
In England and in Ireland, not confessing 

1 A signal call, on a trumpet or cornet, for entrance or exit on the stage. 

2 In every way 

3 " Solemn supper," i.e., state or ceremonious festival. 

4 Always. 



50 SHAKESPEARE. [act hi. 

Their cruel parricide, filling their hearers 
With strange invention. But of that to-morrow, 
When therewithal we shall have cause of state 
Craving us jointly. 1 Hie you to horse ; adieu, 
Till you return at night. Goes Fleance with you ? 

Banquo. Ay, my good lord : our time does call upon's. 

Macbeth. I wish your horses swift and sure of foot ; 
And so I do commend you to their backs. 

Farewell. — [Exit Banquo. 

Let every man be master of his time 
Till seven at night. To make society 
The sweeter welcome, we will keep ourself 
Till supper time alone ; while then, 2 God be with you ! — 

[Exeunt all but Macbeth and an Attendant. 
Sirrah, a word with you : attend those men 
Our pleasure ? 

Attendant. They are, my lord, without the palace gate. 

Macbeth. Bring them before us. — [Exit Attendant. 

To be thus is nothing, 
But to be safely thus. Our fears in Banquo 
Stick deep ; and in his royalty of nature 
Reigns that which would be fear'd. 'Tis much he dares ; 
And, to that dauntless temper of his mind, 
He hath a wisdom that doth guide his valor 
To act in safety. There is none but he 
Whose being I do fear ; and under him 
My Genius is rebuk'd, as, it is said, 
Mark Antony's was by Caesar. 3 He chid the sisters 

1 " Cause of state," etc., i.e., affairs of state calling for our joint consid- 
eration. 

2 " While then," i.e., till then. 

3 Plutarch relates that " Antony had in his house a fortune-telling gypsy, 
who was skilled in the calculation of nativities. This man, either to oblige 
Cleopatra, or following the investigation of truth, told Antony that the star of 
his fortune was eclipsed and obscured by that of Caesar, and advised him by 
all means to keep at the greatest distance from that young man. [Octavius 



scene I.] MA CBE TH. 5 1 

When first they put the name of king upon me, 

And bade them speak to him ; then, prophetlike, 

They hail'd him father to a line of kings. 

Upon my head they plac'd a fruitless crown, 

And put a barren scepter in my gripe, 

Thence to be wrench'd with an unlineal hand, 

No son of mine succeeding. If't be so, 

For Banquo's issue have I fil'd x my mind ; 

For them the gracious Duncan have 1 murder'd ; 

Put rancors in the vessel of my peace 

Only for them ; and mine eternal jewel 2 

Given to the common enemy of man, 

To make them kings, — the seed of Banquo kings ! 

Rather than so, come, Fate, into the list, 

And champion me to the utterance ! 3 — Who's there ? 

Reenter Attendant, with two Murderers. 

Now go to the door, and stay there till we call. 

[Exit Atte?idant. 
Was it not yesterday we spoke together ? 

First Murderer. It was, so please your highness. 

Macbeth. Well, then, now, 

Have you consider'd of my speeches ? Know 

is the Caesar referred to.] ' The Genius of your life,' said he, ' is afraid of 
his : when it is alone, its bearing is erect and fearless ; when his approaches, 
it is dejected and depressed.' Indeed, there were many circumstances to jus- 
tify the conjurer's doctrine ; for in every kind of play, whether they cast lots 
or cast the die, Antony was*still the loser. In their quail fights and cock 
fights, Caesar's birds always won." 

1 Defiled. 2 " Eternal jewel," i.e., immortal soul. 

3 " Champion me," etc., i.e., fight against me to the last. Furness (Vari- 
orum Shakespeare, vol. ii.) quotes Johnson's note : " A Voutrance (of which 
' utterance ' of the text is a corruption) is a French phrase of arms. A 
challenge or combat a Voutrance was the term used when the combatants 
engaged with an intention to destroy each other, in opposition to trials of skill 
at festivals or on other occasions, where the contest was only for reputation 
or a prize." 



52 SHAKESPEARE. [act hi. 

That it was he in the times past which held you 

So under fortune, which you thought had been 

Our innocent self. This I made good to you 

In our last conference, pass'd in probation with you, 1 

How you were borne in hand, 2 how cross'd, the instruments, 

Who wrought with them, and all things else that might 

To half a soul and to a notion craz'd 

Say, " Thus did Banquo." 

First Murderer. You made it known to us. 

Macbeth. I did so, and went further, which is now 
Our point of second meeting. Do you find 
Your patience so predominant in your nature 
That you can let this go ? Are you so gospel'd 3 
To pray for this good man and for his issue, 
Whose heavy hand hath bow'd you to the grave 
And beggar'd yours forever ? 

First Murderer. We are men, my liege. 

Macbeth. Ay, in the catalogue ye go for men ; 
As hounds and greyhounds, mongrels, spaniels, curs, 
Shoughs, 4 water rugs, and demi-wolves are clept 5 
All by the name of dogs : the valued file 6 
Distinguishes the swift, the slow, the subtle, 
The housekeeper, the hunter, every one 
According to the gift which bounteous nature 
Hath in him clos'd, whereby he does receive 
Particular addition, from the bill 
That writes them all alike : and so of men. 
Now, if you have a station in the file, 

1 " Pass'd," etc., i.e., in which it was proved to you in detail. 

2 " Borne in hand," i.e., beguiled by flattering promises. 

3 See Matt. v. 44. 

4 " Shough " is a dog with rough, shaggy hair. The word is sometimes 
written, and always pronounced, " shock." 

5 Called. 

* " Valued file," i.e., a list in which names and qualities are specifically 
designated. 



scene I.] MACBETH. 53 

Not i' the worst rank of manhood, say't ; 
And I will put that business in your bosoms, 
Whose execution takes your enemy off, 
Grapples you to the heart and love of us, 
Who wear our health but sickly in his life, 
Which in his death were perfect. 

Second Murderer. I am one, my liege, 

Whom the vile blows and buffets of the world 
Have so incens'd that I am reckless what 
I do to spite the world. 

First Alurderer. And I another 

So weary with disasters, tugg'd with fortune, 
That I would set my life on any chance, 
To mend it, or be rid on't. 

Macbeth. Both of you 

Know Banquo was your enemy. 

Both Murderers. True, my lord. 

Macbeth. So is he mine ; and in such bloody distance, 1 
That every minute of his being thrusts 
Against my near'st of life : and though I could 
With barefac'd power sweep him from my sight 
And bid my will avouch it, 2 yet I must not, 
For 3 certain friends that are both his and mine, 
Whose loves I may not drop, but wail his fall 
Whom I myself struck down ; and thence it is, 
That I to your assistance do make love, 
Masking the business from the common eye 
For sundry weighty reasons. 

Second Murderer. We shall, my lord, 

Perform what you command us. 

First Murde?'er. Though our lives — 

1 Variance. 

2 " With barefac'd power," etc., i.e., with arbitrary power destroy him, 
and justify the act by my will. 

3 On account of. 



54 SHAKESPEARE. [act hi. 

Macbeth. Your spirits shine through you. Within this hour at 
most 
I will advise you where to plant yourselves ; 
Acquaint you with the perfect spy o' the time, 1 
The moment on't ; for't must be done to-night, 
And something 2 from the palace; always thought 
That I require a clearness: 3 and with him — 
To leave no rubs 4 nor botches in the work — 
Fleance his son, that keeps him company, 
Whose absence is no less material to me 
Than is his father's, must embrace the fate 
Of that dark hour. Resolve yourselves apart : 
I'll come to you anon. 

Both Murderers. We are resolv'd, my lord. 

Macbeth. I'll call upon you straight: 5 abide within. 

\Exeunt Murderers. 
It is concluded. Banquo, thy soul's flight, 
If it find heaven, must find it out to-night. [Exit. 

Scene II. The Palace. 
Enter Lady Macbeth and a Servant. 

Lady Macbeth. Is Banquo gone from court ? 

Servant. Ay, madam, but returns again to-night. 

Lady Macbeth. Say to the king, I would attend his leisure 
For a few words. 

Servant. Madam, I will. [Exit. 

Lady Macbeth. Naught's had, all's spent, 

Where our desire is got without content : 
'Tis safer to be that which we destroy 
Than by destruction dwell in doubtful joy. 

1 " The perfect spy," etc., i.e., the exact time when you may expect him. 

2 Somewhat. 

3 " Always thought," etc., i.e., remembering always that I am not to be 
implicated in the matter. 

4 Hindrances. 5 Immediately. 



scene ii.] MACBETH. 55 

Enter Macbeth. 

How now, my lord ! why do you keep alone, 

Of sorriest fancies your companions making, 

Using those thoughts which should indeed have died 

With them they think on ? Things without all remedy 

Should be without regard : what's done is done. 

Macbeth. We have scotch'd Y the snake, not kill'd it : 
She'll close and be herself, whilst our poor malice 
Remains in danger of her former tooth. 
But let the frame of things disjoint, both the worlds suffer, 
Ere we will eat our meal in fear, and sleep 
In the affliction of these terrible dreams 
That shake us nightly : better be with the dead, 
Whom we, to gain our peace, have sent to peace, 
Than on the torture of the mind to lie 
In restless ecstasy. 2 Duncan is in his grave ; 
After life's fitful fever he sleeps well ; 
Treason has done his 3 worst : nor steel, nor poison, 
Malice domestic, foreign levy, nothing, 
Can touch him further. 

Lady Macbeth. Come on ; 

Gentle my lord, sleek o'er your rugged looks ; 
Be bright and jovial among your guests to-night. 

Macbeth. So shall I, love ; and so, I pray, be you: 
Let your remembrance apply to Banquo ; 
Present him eminence, 4 both with eye and tongue : 
Unsafe the while, that we 

Must lave our honors in these flattering streams, 
And make our faces vizards 5 to our hearts, 
Disguising what they are. 

1 Wounded ; gashed. 

2 " Ecstasy" is used by Shakespeare for any violent emotion, as anger, 
sorrow, etc. 3 Its. 

4 " Present him eminence," i.e., do him all honor, 

5 Masks. 



56 SHAKESPEARE. [act hi. 

Lady Macbeth. You must leave this. 

Macbeth. O, full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife ! 
Thou know'st that Banquo, and his Fleance, lives. 

Lady Macbeth. But in them nature's copy's l not eterne. 2 

Macbeth. There's comfort yet ; they are assailable ; 
Then be thou jocund. Ere the bat hath flown 
His cloister'd flight, ere to black Hecate's summons 
The shard-borne beetle with his drowsy hums 
Hath rung night's yawning peal, there shall be done 
A deed of dreadful note. 

Lady Macbeth. What's to be done ? 

Macbeth. Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck, 
Till thou applaud the deed. — Come, seeling night, 
Scarf up the tender eye 3 of pitiful day, 
And with thy bloody and invisible hand 
Cancel and tear to pieces that great bond 4 
Which keeps me pale ! — Tight thickens ; and the crow 
Makes wing to the rooky wood: 5 
Good things of day begin to droop and drowse ; 
Whiles 6 night's black agents to :heir preys do rouse. 
Thou marvel'st at my words ; but hold thee still : 
Things bad begun make strong themselves by ill. 
So, prithee, go with me. \Exewit. 

Scene III. A Park near the Palace. 
Enter three Murderers. 

First Murderer. But who did bid thee join with us ? 

Third Murderer. Macbeth. 

Second Miwderer. He needs not our mistrust, 7 since he delivers 

1 " Nature's copy," i.e., the " human form divine; " man, the image of 
his Maker. 2 Eternal. 

3 " Seeling night," etc., i.e., obscuring night blindfolds the tender eye. 

4 " That great bond," i.e., Banquo's life. 

5 " Rooky wood," i.e., wood thronged with rooks. 6 While. 

7 " He needs not our mistrust," i.e., we need have no suspicion of him. 



scene hi.] AI AC BETH. 57 

Our offices and what we have to do 
To the direction just. 

First Murderer. Then stand with us. 

The west yet glimmers with some streaks of day : 
Now spurs the lated traveler apace 
To gain the timely inn ; and near approaches 
The subject of our watch. 

Third Murderer. Hark ! I hear horses. 

Banqno. [ Within] Give us a light there, ho ! 

Second Murderer. Then 'tis he : the rest 

That are within the note of expectation 1 
Already are i' the court. 

First Murderer. His horses go about. 

Third Murderer. Almost a mile : but he does usually, 
So all men do, from hence to the palace gate 
Make it their walk. 

Second Murderer. A light, a light ! 

Enter Banquo and Fleance, with a torch. 

Third Murderer. 'Tis he. 

First Murderer. Stand to't. 

Banquo. It will be rain to-night. 

First Murderer. Let it come down. 

[ They set upon Banquo. 

Banquo. O, treachery ! Fly, good Fleance, fly, fly, fly ! 
Thou mayst revenge. O slave ! [Dies. Fleance escapes. 

Third Murderer. Who did strike out the light ? 

First Murderer. Was't not the way ? 

Third Murderer. There's but one down; the son is fled. 

Second Murderer. We have lost 

Best half of our affair. 

First Murderer. Well, let's away, and say how much is done. 

[Exeunt. 

1 " Note of expectation," i.e., list of those expected at the feast. 



58 SHAKESPEARE. [act hi. 

Scene IV. The Same. Hall in the Palace. 

A banquet prepared. Enter Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, Ross, Lennox, 
Lords, and Attendants. 

Macbeth. You know your own degrees ; sit down : at first 
And last x the hearty welcome. 

Lords. Thanks to your majesty. 

Macbeth. Ourself will mingle with society, 
And play the humble host. 
Our hostess keeps her state, 2 but in best time 
We will require her welcome. 

Lady Macbeth. Pronounce it for me, sir, to all our friends ; 
For my heart speaks they are welcome. 

First Murderer appears at the door. 

Macbeth. See, they encounter thee with their hearts' thanks. 
Both sides are even : here I'll sit i' the midst. 
Be large in mirth ; anon we'll drink a measure 
The table round. [Approaching the door.] There's blood upon 
thy face. 

Murderer. 'Tis Banquo's, then. 

Macbeth. 'Tis better thee without than he within. 
Is he dispatch'd ? 

Murderer. My lord, his throat is cut ; that I did for him. 

Macbeth. Thou art the best o' the cut-throats ; yet he's good 
That did the like for Fleance : if thou didst it, 
Thou art the nonpareil. 3 

Murderer. Most royal sir, 

Fleance is 'scaped. 

Macbeth. Then comes my fit again : I had else been perfect, 
Whole as the marble, founded as the rock, 
As broad and general as the casing 4 air ; 

1 " At first and last," i.e., to first and last ; to one and all. 

2 " Keeps her state," i.e., keeps her chair or seat of state. 

3 Unequaled, 4 Surrounding. 



scene iv.] MACBETH. 59 

But now I am cabin'd, cribb'd, confin'd, bound in 
To saucy doubts and fear. But Banquo's safe ? 

Murderer. Ay, my good lord ; safe in a ditch he bides, 
With twenty trenched gashes on his head, 
The least a death to nature. 

Macbeth. Thanks for that : 

There the grown serpent lies ; the worm that's fled 
Hath nature that in time will venom breed, 
No teeth for the present. Get thee gone ; to-morrow 
We'll hear ourselves again. 1 [Exit Murderer. 

Lady Macbeth. My royal lord, 

You do not give the cheer; 2 the feast is sold 
That is not often vouch'd, while 'tis a-making, 
'Tis given with welcome : to feed were best at home ; 
From thence the sauce to meat is ceremony ; 
Meeting were bare without it. 

Macbeth. Sweet remembrancer ! 

Now, good digestion wait on appetite, 
And health on both ! 

Lemwx. May't please your highness sit. 

[The Ghost of Banquo enters, and sits in Macbeth' s place. 

Macbeth. Here had we now our country's honor roof'd, 
Were the grac'd person of our Banquo present ; 
Who may I rather challenge for unkindness 
Than pity for mischance ! 

Ross. His absence, sir, 

Lays blame upon his promise. Please't your highness 
To grace us with your royal company. 

Macbeth. The table's full. 

Lennox. Here is a place reserv'd, sir. 

Macbeth. Where ? 

Lennox. Here, my good lord. What is't that moves your 
highness ? 

Macbeth. Which of you have done this ? 

1 " We'll hear," etc., i.e., we'll talk together again. 2 Welcome. 



60 SHAKESPEARE. [act hi. 

Lords. What, my good lord ? 

Macbeth. Thou canst not say I did it : never shake 
Thy gory locks at me. 

Ross. Gentlemen, rise : his highness is not well. 

Lady Macbeth. Sit, worthy friends : my lord is often thus, 
And hath been from his youth : pray you, keep seat ; 
The fit is momentary ; upon a thought 
He will again be well. If much you note him, 
You shall offend nirAdfciUgxtend his passion : 
Feed, and regard him not. — Are you a man ? 

Macbeth. Ay, and a bold one, that dare look on that 
Which might appal the devil. 

Lady Macbeth. O proper stuff ! 

This is the very painting of your fear : 
This is the air-drawn dagger which, you said, 
Led you to Duncan. O, these flaws and starts, 
Impostors to true fear, 1 would well become 
A woman's story at a winter's fire, 
Author'iz'd by her grandam. Shame itself ! 
Why do you make such faces ? When all's done, 
You look but on a stool. 

Macbeth. Prithee, see there ! behold ! look ! lo ! how say 
you ? — 
Why, what care I ? If thou canst nod, speak too. 
If charnel houses and our graves must send 
Those that we bury back, our monuments 
Shall be the maws of kites. [ Ghost vanishes. 

Lady Macbeth. What ! quite unmann'd in folly ? 

Macbeth. If I stand here, I saw him. 

Lady Macbeth. Fie, for shame ! 

Macbeth. Blood hath been shed ere now, i' the olden time, 
Ere human statute purg'd the gentle weal ; 2 

1 " To true fear," i.e., when compared with true fear. 

2 " Ere human statute," etc., i.e., before human statute purified the com- 
monwealth and civilized it, made it gentle. 



scene iv.] MACBETH. 61 

Ay, and since too, murders have been perform'd 
Too terrible for the ear : the time has been, 
That, when the brains were out, the man would die, 
And there an end ; but now they rise again, 
With twenty mortal murders : on their crowns, 
And push us from our stools. This is more strange 
Than such a murder is. 

Lady Macbeth. My worthy lord, 

Your noble friends do lack you. 

Macbeth. I do forget. — 

Do not muse 2 at me, my most worthy friends ; 
I have a strange infirmity, which is nothing 
To those that know me. Come, love and health to all ; 
Then I'll sit down. — Give me some wine; fill full. 
I drink to the general joy o' the whole table, 
And to our dear friend Banquo, whom we miss ; 
Would he were here ! to all, and him, we thirst, 
And all to all. 3 

Lords. Our duties, and the pledge. 

Reenter Ghost. 

Macbeth. A vaunt ! and quit my sight ! let the earth hide thee ! 
Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold ; 
Thou hast no speculation 4 in those eyes 
Which thou dost glare with ! 

Lady Macbeth. Think of this, good peers, 

But as a thing of custom : 'tis no other ; 
Only it spoils the pleasure of the time. 

Macbeth. What man dare, I dare : 
Approach thou like the rugged Russian bear, 

l " Mortal murders," i.e., fatal wounds. 2 Wonder. 

3 "To all," etc., i.e., we drink to him and to all, with all best wishes 
to all. 

4 " Speculation," i.e., as Dr. Johnson notes, "the intelligence which is 
perceived in the eye of the living man." 



62 SHAKESPEARE. [act hi. 

The arm'd rhinoceros, 1 or the Hyrcan 2 tiger ; 

Take any shape but that, and my firm nerves 

Shall never tremble : or be alive again, 

And dare me to the desert with thy sword ; 

If trembling I inhabit 3 then, protest 4 me 

The baby of a girl. 5 Hence, horrible shadow ! 

Unreal mockery, hence ! [Ghost vanishes. 

Why, so : being gone, 
I am a man again. — Pray you, sit still. 

Lady Macbeth. You have displac'd the mirth, broke the good 
meeting, 
With most admir'd disorder. 6 

Macbeth. Can such things be, 

And overcome us like a summer's cloud, 
Without our special wonder ? You make me strange 
Even to the disposition that I owe, 7 
When now I think you can behold such sights, 
And keep the natural ruby of your cheeks, 
When mine is blanch'd with fear. 

Ross. What sights, my lord ? 

Lady Macbeth. I pray you, speak not ; he grows worse and 
worse ; 
Question enrages him. At once, good night : 
Stand not upon the order of your going, 
But go at once. 



1 " Arm'd rhinoceros," i.e., armored with his thick hide as with a coat of 
mail. 

2 Hyrcania was the name given by the ancients to a part of Asia of uncer- 
tain extent, its northern boundary being the Caspian or Hyrcanian Sea. 

3 Stay at home ; keep under roof. 

4 Call. 

5 " Baby of a girl," i.e., a girl's doll. 

6 " Admir'd disorder," i.e., disorder to be wondered at. 

7 " You make me strange," etc., i.e., you make me a stranger even to my 
own feelings, unable to comprehend the motive of my fear. 



scene iv.] MACBETH. 63 

Lennox. Good night ; and better health 

Attend his majesty ! 

Lady Macbeth. A kind good night to all ! 

\Exeiint all but Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. 

Macbeth. It will have blood ; they say blood will have 
blood : 
Stones have been known to move, 1 and trees to speak ; 
Augurs and understood relations have 
By magot-pies and choughs and rooks 2 brought forth 
The secret'st man of blood. — What is the night ? 

Lady Macbeth. Almost at odds with morning, which is which. 

Macbeth. How say'st thou, 3 that Macduff denies his person 
At our great bidding ? 

Lady Macbeth. Did you send to him, sir ? 

Macbeth. I hear it by the way ; but I will send : 
There's not a one of them but in his house 
I keep a servant fee'd. I will to-morrow, 
And betimes I will, to the weird sisters : 
More shall they speak ; for now I am bent to know, 
By the worst means, the worst. For mine own good, 
All causes shall give way : I am in blood 
Stepp'd in so far that, should I wade no more, 
Returning were as tedious as go o'er. 
Strange things I have in head, that will to hand ; 
Which must be acted ere they may be scann'd. 4 

1 " Stones have been known to move." Furness (Variorum Shakespeare, 
vol. ii. p. 183) quotes from Notes and Queries, Nov. 6, 1869: " May not 
die allusion be to the rocking-stones or ' stones of judgment,' by which it was 
thought the Druids tested the guilt or innocence of accused persons? At a 
slight touch of the innocent, such a stone moved ; but ' the secret man of 
blood' found that his best strength could not stir it." 

2 Magot-pies and choughs and rooks are all cunning birds, frequently 
household pets, that may be taught to articulate more or less distinctly. That 
such birds have been the means of disclosing secrets is well known. 

3 " How say'st thou? " i.e., what do you say to this? 

4 Closely examined. 



64 SHAKESPEARE. [act hi. 

Lady Macbeth. You lack the season of all natures, 1 sleep. 

Macbeth. Come, we'll to sleep. My strange and self-abuse 2 
Is the initiate fear that wants hard use : 
We are yet but young in deed. [Exeunt. 

Scene V. . A Heath. 
Thunder. Enter the three Witches, meeting Hecate. 

First Witch. Why, how now, Hecate ! you look angerly. 

Hecate. Have I not reason, beldams as you are, 
Saucy and overbold ? How did you dare 
To trade and traffic with Macbeth 
In riddles and affairs of death ; 
And I, the mistress of your charms, 
The close 3 contriver of all harms, 
Was never call'd to bear my part, 
Or show the glory of our art ? 
And, which is worse, all you have done 
Hath been but for a wayward son, 
Spiteful and wrathful, who, as others do, 
Loves for his own ends, not for you. 
But make amends now : get you gone, 
And at the pit of Acheron 4 
Meet me i' the morning : thither he 
Will come to know his destiny ; 

1 "The season of all natures," i.e., that which keeps all natures fresh; 
preserves them. 

2 " My strange and self-abuse," i.e., my strange self-delusion. 

3 Secret. 

4 A river celebrated in antiquity, from its supposed communication with 
the realms of Pluto. Homer called it, from its dead appearance, one of the 
rivers of the Lower World; and the fable has been adopted by succeeding 
poets. Shakespeare, as Steevens remarks, " seems to have thought it allowa- 
ble to bestow the name of Acheron on any fountain, lake, or pit through 
which there was vulgarly supposed to be a communication between this and 
the infernal world." 



scene vi.] MACBETH. 65 

Your vessels and your spells provide, 

Your charms and everything beside. 

I am for the air; this night I'll spend 

Unto a dismal and a fatal end : 

Great business must be wrought ere noon. 

Upon the corner of the moon 

There hangs a vaporous drop profound ; 

I'll catch it ere it come to ground : 

And that distill'd by magic sleights * 

Shall raise such artificial sprites 2 

As by the strength of their illusion 

Shall draw him on to his confusion : 

He shall spurn fate, scorn death, and bear 

His hopes 'bove wisdom, grace, and fear : 

And you all know, security 3 

Is mortals' chiefest enemy. 

[Music and a song within : " Come away, come away," etc. 
Hark ! I am call'd ; my little spirit, see, 

Sits in a foggy cloud, and stays for me. [Exit. 

First Witch. Come, let's make haste; she'll soon be back 

again. [Exeunt. 

Scene VI. Forres. The Palace. 

Enter Lennox and another Lord. 

Lennox. My former speeches have but hit your thoughts, 
Which can interpret further: only, I say, 
Things have been strangely borne. The gracious Duncan 
Was pitied of Macbeth : marry, 4 he was dead ; 
And the right-valiant Banquo walk'd too late ; 

1 Contrivances. 

2 " Artificial sprites," i.e., spirits made, or made to appear, by artificial 
means. 

3 Carelessness. 

4 " Marry:" this exclamation, or petty oath, is a corruption of " Virgin 
Mary." 



66 SHAKESPEARE. [act hi 

Whom, you may say, if't please you, Fleance kill'd, 

For Fleance fled : men must not walk too late. 

Who cannot want the thought how monstrous 

It was for Malcolm and for Donalbain 

To kill their gracious father ? damned fact ! 

How it did grieve Macbeth ! did he not straight 

In pious rage the two delinquents tear, 

That were the slaves of drink and thralls of sleep ? 

Was not that nobly done ? Ay, and wisely too ; 

For 'twould have anger'd any heart alive 

To hear the men deny't. So that, I say, 

He has borne all things well : and I do think 

That had he Duncan's sons under his key — 

As, an't please Heaven, he shall not — they should find 

What 'twere to kill a father ; so should Fleance. 

But, peace ! for from broad words, 1 and 'cause he fail'd 

His presence at the tyrant's feast, I hear 

Macduff lives in disgrace. Sir, can you tell 

Where he bestows himself ? 

Lord. The son of Duncan, 

From whom this tyrant holds the due of birth, 
Lives in the English court, and is receiv'd 
Of the most pious Edward 2 with such grace 
That the malevolence of fortune nothing 
Takes from his high respect. Thither Macduff 
Is gone to pray the holy king, upon his aid, 3 
To wake Northumberland and warlike Siward ; 
That, by the help of these, with Him above 
To ratify the work, we may again 
Give to our tables meat, sleep to our nights, 
Free from our feasts and banquets bloody knives, 
Do faithful homage, and receive free honors ; 

1 " From broad words," i.e., in consequence of free speech. 

2 Edward the Confessor (see Note 3, p. 82). 

3 " Upon his aid," i.e., to his aid. 



scene I.] MACBETH. 67 

All which we pine for now. And this report 
Hath so exasperate : the king, that he 
Prepares for some attempt of war. 

Lennox. Sent he to Macduff ? 

Lord. He did ; and with an absolute " Sir, not I," 
The cloudy messenger turns me 2 his back, 
And hums, as who should say, " You'll rue the time 
That clogs me with this answer." 

Lewwx. And that well might 

Advise him to a caution, to hold what distance 
His wisdom can provide. Some holy angel 
Fly to the court of England and unfold 
His message ere he come, that a swift blessing 
May soon return to this our suffering country 
Under a hand accurs'd ! 

Lord. I'll send my prayers with him. 

[Fxeunt- 



ACT IV. 

Scene I. A Cavern. In the Middle a Boiling Caldron. 
Thunder. Enter the three Witches. 

First Witch. Thrice the brinded 3 cat hath mew'd. 

Second Witch. Thrice and once the hedgepig whin'd. 

Third Witch. Harpier cries, " 'Tis time, 'tis time." 

First Witch. Round about the caldron go ; 
In the poison'd entrails throw. 
Toad, that under the cold stone 
Days and nights has thirty-one 

1 Exasperated. 

2 The "me" is redundant, introduced to enliven the speech. There 
are many instances of this use of the word in Shakespeare. 

3 Brindled. 



68 SHAKESPEARE. [act iv. 

Swelter'd venom sleeping got, 
Boil thou first i' the charmed pot. 

All. Double, double toil and trouble ; 
Fire burn, and caldron bubble. 

Second Witch. Fillet of a fenny snake, 
In the caldron boil and bake ; 
Eye of newt : and toe of frog, 
Wool of bat and tongue of dog, 
Adder's fork 2 and blindworm's sting, 
Lizard's leg and howlet's 3 wing, 
For a charm of powerful trouble, 
Like a hellbroth boil and bubble. 

All. Double, double toil and trouble ; 
Fire burn, and caldron bubble. 

Third Witch. Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf, 
Witches' mummy, 4 maw and gulf 5 
Of the ravin'd salt-sea shark, 
Root of hemlock digg'd i' the dark, 
Liver of blaspheming Jew, 
Gall of goat, and slips of yew 
Sliver'd in the moon's eclipse, 
Nose of Turk and Tartar's lips, 
Finger of birth-strangled babe 
Ditch-deliver'd by a drab, 
Make the gruel thick and slab : 
Add thereto a tiger's chawdron, 6 
For the ingredients of our caldron. 

1 A kind of lizard. 2 Forked tongue. 3 Owlet's. 

4 Nares (as quoted by Furness) notes that Egyptian mummy, or what 
passed for it, was formerly used as a medicine ; and Sir Thomas Browne, 
as noted by Dyce, remarks " that the Egyptian mummies which Cambyses 
or time had spared, avarice now consumeth ; Mummie has become merchan- 
dise, Mizraim cures wounds, and Pharaoh is sold for balsams." But 
the same writer adds, that a large business was done in the manufacturing 
of mummies from dead carcasses, and giving them the names of kings. 

5 Gullet. 6 Entrails. 



scene i.] MACBETH. 69 

All. Double, double toil and trouble ; 
Fire burn, and caldron bubble. 

Second Witch. Cool it with a baboon's blood, 
Then the charm is firm and good. 



Enter Hecate to the other three Witches. 

Hecate. O, well done ! I commend your pains ; 
And every one shall share i' the gains : 
And now about the caldron sing, 
Like elves and fairies in a ring, 
Enchanting all that you put in. 

[Music and a song : " Black spirits," etc. Hecate retires. 
Second Witch. By the pricking of my thumbs, 
Something wicked this way comes. 1 
Open, locks, 
Whoever knocks ! 

Enter Macbeth. 

Macbeth. How now, you secret, black, and midnight hags ! 
What is't you do ? 

All. A deed without a name. 

Macbeth. I conjure you, by that which you profess, 
Howe'er you come to know it, answer me : 
Though you untie the winds and let them fight 
Against the churches ; though the yesty waves 
Confound and swallow navigation 2 up ; 
Though bladed corn be lodg'd 3 and trees blown down ; 
Though castles topple on their warders' heads ; 
Though palaces and pyramids do slope 
Their heads to their foundations ; though the treasure 

1 Steevens remarks, "It is a very ancient superstition, that all sudden 
pains of the body which could not naturally be accounted for were presages 
of somewhat that was shortly to happen." 

2 The vessels of navigation ; ships. 3 Laid. 



70 SHAKESPEARE. [act iv. 

Of nature's germens 1 tnmble altogether, 
Even till destruction sicken ; answer me 
To what I ask you. 

First Witch. Speak. 

Second Witch. Demand. 

Third Witch. We'll answer. 

First Witch. Say if thou'dst rather hear it from our mouths, 
Or from our masters' ? 

Macbeth. Call 'em ; let me see 'em. 

First Witch. Pour in sow's blood, that hath eaten 
Her nine farrow: 2 grease that's sweaten 
From the murderer's gibbet throw 
Into the flame. 

All. Come, high or low ; 

Thyself and office deftly show ! 

Thunder. First Apparition : an armed Head. 

Macbeth. Tell me, thou unknown power, — 

First Witch. He knows thy thought : 

Hear his speech, but say thou naught. 

First Apparition. Macbeth ! Macbeth ! Macbeth ! beware 
Macduff ; 
Beware the Thane of Fife. Dismiss me. Enough. 

[Descends. 

Macbeth. Whate'er thou art, for thy good caution, thanks ; 
Thou hast harp'd my fear aright: 3 but one word more, — 

First Witch. He will not be commanded : here's another, 
More potent than the first. 

Thunder. Second Apparition : a bloody Child. 

Second Apparition. Macbeth ! Macbeth \ Macbeth ! 
Macbeth. Had I three ears I'd hear thee. 

1 Fruitful, germinating seeds. 2 Litter. 

3 " Harp'd my fear aright," i.e., struck the chord or keynote of my fear. 



scene i.] MACBETH. 71 

Second Apparition. Be bloody, bold, and resolute; laugh to 
scorn 
The power of man, for none of woman born 
Shall harm Macbeth. [Descends. 

Macbeth. Then live, Macduff : what need I fear of thee ? 
But yet I'll make assurance double sure, 
And take a bond of fate : thou shalt not live ; 
That I may tell pale-hearted fear it lies, 
And sleep in spite of thunder. 

Thunder. Third Apparition : a Child crowned, with a tree in his hand. 

What is this 
That rises like the issue of a king, 
And wears upon his baby brow the round 
And top of sovereignty ? 

All. Listen, but speak not to't. 

Third Apparition. Be lion-mettled, proud ; and take no care 
Who chafes, who frets, or where conspirers are : 
Macbeth shall never vanquish'd be until 
Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsin'ane Hill 
Shall come against him. [Descends. 

Macbeth. That will never be : 

Who can impress the forest, bid the tree 
Unfix his earth-bound root ? Sweet bodements ! l good ! 
Rebellion's head rise never till the wood 
Of Birnam rise, and our high-plac'd Macbeth 
Shall live the lease of nature, pay his breath 
To time and mortal custom. Yet my heart 
Throbs to know one thing : tell me, if your art 
Can tell so much, shall Banquo's issue ever 
Reign in this kingdom ? 

All. Seek to know no more. 

Macbeth. I will be satisfied : deny me this 

1 Presages. 



72 SHAKESPEARE. [act iv. 

And an eternal curse fall on you ! Let me know. 
Why sinks that caldron ? and what noise is this ? 

[Hautboys. 

First Witch. Show ! 

Second Witch. Show ! 

Third Witch. Show ! 

All. Show his eyes, and grieve his heart ; 
Come like shadows, so depart ! 

A show of eight Kings, the last with a glass in his hand; Banquo's Ghost 

follozving. 

Macbeth. Thou art too like the spirit of Banquo ; down ! 
Thy crown does sear mine eyeballs. And thy hair, 
Thou other gold-bound brow, is like the first. 
A third is like the former. Filthy hags ! 
Why do you show me this ? A fourth ! Start, eyes ! 
What ! will the line stretch out to the crack of doom ? 
Another yet ! A seventh ! I'll see no more : 
And yet the eighth appears, who bears a glass 
Which shows me many more ; and some I see 
That twofold balls l and treble scepters carry : 
Horrible sight ! Now, I see, 'tis true ; 
For the blood-bolter'd 2 Banquo smiles upon me, 
And points at them for his. [Apparitions vanish. \ What, is 
this so ? 

First Witch. Ay, sir, all this is so : but why 
Stands Macbeth thus amazedly ? 
Come, sisters, cheer we up his sprights, 3 
And show the best of our delights : 
I'll charm the air to give a sound, 
While you perform your antic round ; 

1 The ball carried by kings was an emblem of sovereignty, " and the 
twofold balls refer to the double coronation of James I. at Scone and at 
Westminster." 

2 Blood-clotted. 3 Spirits. 



scene i.] MACBETH. 73 

That this great king may kindly say, 
Our duties did his welcome pay. 

[Music. The Witches dance, and then vanish, with Hecate. 
Macbeth. Where are they ? Gone ? Let this pernicious hour 
Stand aye accursed in the calendar ! — 
Come in, without there ! 

Enter Lennox. 

Lennox. What's your grace's will ? 

Macbeth. Saw you the weird sisters ? 

Lennox. No, my lord. 

Macbeth. Came they not by you ? 

Lennox. No indeed, my lord. 

Macbeth. Infected be the air whereon they ride, 
And damn'd all those that trust them ! — I did hear 
The galloping of horse : who was't came by ? 

Lennox. 'Tis two or three, my lord, that bring you word 
Macduff is fled to England. 

Macbeth. Fled to England ! 

Lennox. Ay, my good lord. 

Macbeth. [Aside] Time, thou anticipat'st l my dread exploits : 
The flighty purpose never is o'ertook 
Unless the deed go with it. From this moment 
The very firstlings of my heart shall be 
The firstlings of my hand. And even now, 
To crown my thoughts with acts, be it thought and done : 
The castle of Macduff I will surprise ; 
Seize upon Fife ; give to the edge o' the sword 
His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls 
That trace him in his line. No boasting like a fool ; 
This deed I'll do before this purpose cool. 
But no more sights ! 2 — Where are these gentlemen ? 
Come, bring me where they are. [Exeunt. 

1 Preventest. 

2 " No more sights " like the " horrible sight " he has just beheld. 



74 SHAKESPEARE. [act iv. 

Scene II. Fife. Macduff's Castle. 

Enter Lady Macduff, her Son, and Ross. 

Lady Macduff. What hath he done, to make him fly the land ? 

Ross. You must have patience, madam. 

Lady Macduff. He had none : 

His flight was madness. When our actions do not, 
Our fears do make us traitors. 

Ross. You know not 

Whether it was his wisdom or his fear. 

Lady Macduff. Wisdom ! to leave his wife, to leave his babes, 
His mansion and his titles, in a place 
From whence himself does fly ? He loves us not ; 
He wants the natural touch : 1 for the poor wren, 
The most diminutive of birds, will fight, 
Her young ones in her nest, against the owl. 
All is the fear and nothing is the love ; 
As little is the wisdom, where the flight 
So runs against all reason. 

Ross. My dearest coz, 

I pray you, school yourself : but for your husband, 
He is noble, wise, judicious, and best knows 
The fits o' the season. 2 I dare not speak much further ; 
But cruel are the times, when we are traitors 
And do not know ourselves ; 3 when we hold rumor 
From what we fear, yet know not what we fear, 
But float upon a wild and violent sea 
Each way and move. 4 I take my leave of you : 
Shall not be long but I'll be here again. 

1 Affection. 

2 " The fits o' the season," i.e., that which befits the season. 

3 " We are traitors," etc., i.e., we are unconscious of guilt, yet held to be 
traitors. 

s " But float," etc., i.e., but float and move each way, hither and thither, 
apon a wild and violent sea. 



scene ii.] MACBETH. 75 

Things at the worst will cease, or else climb upward 
To what they were before. My pretty cousin, 
Blessing upon you ! 

Lady Macduff. Father'd he is, and yet he's fatherless. 

Ross. I am so much a fool, should I stay longer, 
It would be my disgrace and your discomfort : 
I take my leave at once. [Exit. 

Lady Macduff. Sirrah, your father's dead : 

And what will you do now ? How will you live ? 

Son. As birds do, mother. 

Lady Macduff. What, with worms and flies ? 

Son. With what I get, I mean ; and so do they. 

Lady Macduff. Poor bird ! thou'dst never fear the net nor 
lime, 1 
The pitfall nor the gin. 2 

Son. Why should I, mother ? Poor birds they are not set for. 
My father is not dead, for all your saying. 

Lady Macduff. Yes, he is dead : how wilt thou do for a father ? 

Son. Nay, how will you do for a husband ? 

Lady Macduff. Why, I can buy me twenty at any market. 

Son. Then you'll buy 'em to sell again. 

Lady Macduff. Thou speak'st with all thy wit ; and yet, i' faith/ 
With wit enough for thee. 

Son. Was my father a traitor, mother ? 

Lady Macduff. Ay, that he was. 

Son. What is a traitor ? 

Lady Macduff. Why, one that swears and lies. 
Son. And be all traitors that do so ? 

Lady Macduff. Every one that does so is a traitor, and must 
be hang'd. 

Son. And must they all be hang'd that swear and lie ? 

1 Birdlime, a viscous substance with which the edges of birds' nests and 
the tree branches near them were smeared, and by which the birds were 
insnared. 

2 Trap. 



76 SHAKESPEARE. [act iv. 

Lady Macduff. Every one. 

Son. Who must hang them ? 

Lady Macduff. Why, the honest men. 

Son. Then the liars and swearers are fools, for there are liars 
and swearers enow l to beat the honest men and hang up them. 

Lady Macduff. Now, God help thee, poor monkey ! But how 
wilt thou do for a father ? 

San. If he were dead, you'd weep for him: if you would not, 
it were a good sign that I should quickly have a new father. 

Lady Macduff. Poor prattler, how thou talk'st ! 

Enter a Messenger. 

Messenger. Bless you, fair dame ! I am not to you known, 
Though in your state of honor I am perfect. 
I doubt some danger does approach you nearly : 
If you will take a homely 2 man's advice, 
Be not found here ; hence, with your little ones. 
To fright you thus, methinks, I am too savage ; 
To do worse to you were fell cruelty, 
Which is too nigh your person. Heaven preserve you ! 
I dare abide no longer. [Exit. 

Lady Macduff. Whither should I fly ? 

I have done no harm. But I remember now 
I am in this earthly world, where to do harm 
Is often laudable, to do good sometime 
Accounted dangerous folly; why, then, alas! 
Do I put up that womanly defense, 
To say I have done no harm ? 

Enter Murderers. 

What are these faces ? 
First Murderer. Where is your husband ? 
Lady Macduff. I hope in no place so unsanctified 
Where such as thou mayst find him. 

1 Enough. 2 Plain. 



scene in.] MACBETH. 77 

First Murderer. He's a traitor. 

Sou. Thou liest, thou shag-hair'd l villain ! 
First Murderer. What, you egg ! 

[Stabbing him. 
Young fry of treachery ! 

Son. He has kilPd me, mother : 

Run away, I pray you ! [Dies. 

[Exit Lady Macduff, crying "Murder ! " 
Exeunt Mui'derers, following her. 

Scene III. England. Before the King's Palace. 
Enter Malcolm and Macduff. 

Malcolm. Let us seek out some desolate shade, and there 
Weep our sad bosoms empty. 

Macduff. Let us rather 

Hold fast the mortal sword, and like good men 
Bestride our dovvnfall'n birthdom ; 2 ea,ch new morn 
New widows howl, new orphans cry, new sorrows 
Strike heaven on the face, that it resounds 
As if it felt with Scotland and yell'd out 
Like syllable of dolor. 3 

Malcolm. What I believe I'll wail; 

What know, believe ; and what I can redress, 
As I shall find the time to friend, 4 I will. 
What you have spoke, it may be so perchance. 
This tyrant, whose sole name 5 blisters our tongues, 
Was once thought honest : you have lov'd him well ; 
He hath not touch'd you yet. I am young ; but something 
You may deserve of him through me, and wisdom 

1 Rough ; coarse-haired. 

2 " Our downfall'n birthdom," i.e., our downfallen country. 

3 " Like syllable of dolor," i.e., similar cry of grief. 

4 " The time to friend," i.e., the time convenient. 

5 " Whose sole name," i.e., the mere naming of whom. 



78 SHAKESPEARE. [act iv. 

To offer up a weak, poor, innocent lamb 
To appease an angry god. 

Macduff. I am not treacherous. 

Malcolm. But Macbeth is. 

A good and virtuous nature may recoil 1 
In an imperial charge. But I shall crave your pardon ; 
That which you are my thoughts cannot transpose : 
Angels are bright still, though the brightest fell : 
Though all things foul would wear the brows of grace, 
Yet grace must still look so. 2 

Macduff. I have lost my hopes. 

Malcolm. Perchance even there where I did find my doubts. 
Why in that rawness 3 left you wife and child, 
Those precious motives, those strong knots of love, 
Without leave-taking ? I pray you, 
Let not my jealousies be your dishonors. 
But mine own safeties. You may be rightly just, 
Whatever I shall think. 

Macduff. Bleed, bleed, poor country ! 

Great tyranny, lay thou thy basis sure, 
For goodness dare not check thee : wear thou thy wrongs ; 
The title is affeer'd ! 4 Fare thee well, lord : 
I would not be the villain that thou think'st 
For the whole space that's in the tyrant's grasp, 
And the rich East to boot. 

Malcolm. Be not offended : 

I speak not as in absolute fear of you. 
I think our country sinks beneath the yoke ; 
It weeps, it bleeds ;* and each new day a gash 
Is added to her wounds : I think withal 
There would be hands uplifted in my right ; 
And here from gracious England have I offer 

1 Give way. 

2 " Grace must still look so," i.e., grace must still look like herself. 

3 Unprotected condition. 4 Confirmed. 



scene in.] MACBETH. 79 

Of goodly thousands ; but, for all this, 
When I shall tread upon the tyrant's head, 
Or wear it on my sword, yet my poor country 
Shall have more vices than it had before, 
More suffer and more sundry ways than ever, 1 
By him that shall succeed. 

Macduff. What should he be ? 

Malcolm. It is myself I mean ; in whom I know 
All the particulars of vice so grafted 
That, when they shall be open'd, 2 black Macbeth 
Will seem as pure as snow, and the poor state 
Esteem him as a lamb, being compar'd 
With my confineless 3 harms. 

Macduff. Not in the legions 

Of horrid hell can come a devil more damn'd 
In evils to top Macbeth. 

Malcolm. I grant him bloody, 

Luxurious, avaricious, false, deceitful, 
Sudden, malicious, smacking of every sin 
That has a name ; but there's no bottom, none, 
In my voluptuousness. Better Macbeth 
Than such an one to reign. 

Macduff. Boundless intemperance 

In nature is a tyranny ; it hath been 
The untimely emptying of the happy throne 
And fall of many kings. But fear not yet 
To take upon you what is yours : you may 
Convey your pleasures in a spacious plenty, 
And yet seem cold. 

Malcolm. With this there grows 

In my most ill-compos'd affection such 
A stanchless 4 avarice that, were I king, 

1 "More suffer," etc., i.e., suffer more and in more various ways than 
ever. 2 Blossom, like grafted buds. 

3 Unconfined ; boundless. 4 Ever-flowing ; unceasing. 



80 SHAKESPEARE. [act IV. 

I should cut off the nobles for their lands, 
Desire his jewels and this other's house; 1 
And my more-having would be as a sauce 
To make me hunger more, that I should forge 
Quarrels unjust against the good and loyal, 
Destroying them for wealth. 

Macduff. This avarice 

Sticks deeper, grows with more pernicious root 
Than summer-seeming lust, and it hath been 
The sword of our slain kings : yet do not fear ; 
Scotland hath foisons 2 to fill up your will, 
Of your mere own : all these are portable, 3 
With other graces weigh'd. 

Malcolm. But I have none : the king-becoming graces, 
As justice, verity, temperance, stableness, 
Bounty, perseverance, mercy, lowliness, 
Devotion, patience, courage, fortitude, 
I have no relish of them, but abound 
In the division of each several crime, 
Acting it many ways. Nay, had I power, I should 
Pour the sweet milk of concord into hell, 
Uproar 4 the universal peace, confound 
All unity on earth. 

Macduff. O Scotland, Scotland ! 

Malcolm. If such a one be fit to govern, speak: 
1 am as I have spoken. 

Macduff. Fit to govern ! 

No, not to live. O nation miserable, 
With an untitled tyrant bloody-scepter'd, 
When shalt thou see thy wholesome days again, 
Since that the truest issue of thy throne 

1 " His jewels and this other's house," i.e., this man's jewels, that man's 
house. 

2 Abundance. 3 Bearable. 
4 Put in an uproar or confusion. 



scene III.] MACBETH. 81 

By his own interdiction 1 stands accurs'd, 

And does blaspheme his breed ? Thy royal father 

Was a most sainted king : the queen that bore thee, 

Oftener upon her knees than on her feet, 

Died every day she lived. 2 Fare thee well ! 

These evils thou repeat'st upon thyself 

Have banish'd me from Scotland. O my breast, 

Thy hope ends here ! 

Malcolm. Macduff, this noble passion, 

Child of integrity, hath from my soul 
Wip'd the black scruples, reconcil'd my thoughts 
To thy good truth and honor. Devilish Macbeth 
By many of these trains 3 hath sought to win me 
Into his power, and modest wisdom plucks me 
From overcredulous haste : but God above 
Deal between thee and me ! for even now 
I put myself to thy direction, and 
Unspeak mine own detraction, here abjure 
The taints and blames I laid upon myself, 
For strangers to my nature. I am yet 
Unknown to woman, never was forsworn, 
Scarcely have coveted what was mine own, 
At no time broke my faith, would not betray 
The devil to his fellow, and delight 
No less in truth than life : my first false speaking 
Was this upon myself. W T hat I am truly, 
Is thine and my poor country's to command ; 
Whither indeed, before thy here-approach, 
Old Siward, with ten thousand warlike men, 
Already at a point, 4 was setting forth. 

1 Confession. 

2 " Died every day she lived," i.e., mortified herself daily. " I die daily " 
(1 Cor. xv. 31). 

3 Seductive wiles ; lures. 

4 " Already at a point," i.e., fully prepared. 

6 



82 SHAKESPEARE. [ ACT iv. 

Now we'll together ; and the chance of goodness 

Be like our warranted quarrel ! * Why are you silent ? 

Macduff. Such welcome and unwelcome things at once 
Tis hard to reconcile. 

Enter a Doctor. 

Malcolm. Well, more anon. — Comes the king forth, I pray 
you ? 

Doctor. Ay, sir ; there are a crew of wretched souls 
That stay his cure : their malady convinces 
The great assay of art, 2 but at his touch, 
Such sanctity hath Heaven given his hand, 
They presently amend. 

Malcolm. I thank you, doctor. [Exit Doctor. 

Macduff. What's the disease he means ? 

Malcolm. > Tis calrd the evil .3 

A most miraculous work in this good king, 
Which often, since my here-remain in England, 
I have seen him do. How he solicits Heave^ 
Himself best knows ; but strangely-visited people, 

1 " Chance of goodness," etc., i.e., the chance of success be as assured as 
the justice of our cause. 

2 " Their malady convinces," etc., i.e., their disease overcomes all the art 
of the most skillful physicians. 

3 " Tis call'd the evil," i.e., the king's evil, scrofula. The name of 
" king's evil " was applied to this affliction in consequence of an old belief that 
scrofulous tumors could be cured by royal touch. Old historians record that 
multitudes of patients were submitted to this treatment from the days of Ed- 
ward the Confessor to the reign of Queen Anne. In the English Cyclopedia, 
under the head of " Scrofula," a note from Carte's History of England is cited 
to the effect that " the Jacobites considered that this power did not descend 
to Mary, William, or Anne, as they did not reign by divine right." The 
practice of presenting the patient with a coin was not introduced till the time 
of Henry VII. In the reign of Charles II. a medal specially designed for 
the purpose was given. Dr. Samuel Johnson, in 1 712, when a child, was 
touched by Queen Anne, and was probably among the last to receive the 
treatment. The prayer for the ceremony, which appears in the Liturgy of 
the Church of England as late as 1719, has been silently omitted. 



scene in.] MACBETH. '83 

All swoln and ulcerous, pitiful to the eye, 

The mere despair of surgery, he cures, 

Hanging a golden stamp about their necks, 

Put on with holy prayers ; and 'tis spoken, 

To the succeeding royalty he leaves 

The healing benediction. With this strange virtue 

He hath a heavenly gift of prophecy, 

And sundry blessings hang about his throne, 

That speak him full of grace. 

Enter Ross. 

Macduff. See, who comes here ? 

Malcolm. My countryman ; but yet I know him not. 

Macduff. My ever-gentle cousin, welcome hither. 

Malcolm. I know him now. Good God, betimes remove 
The means that makes us strangers ! 

Ross. Sir, amen. 

Macduff. Stands Scotland where it did ? 

Ross. Alas, poor country ! 

Almost afraid to know itself. It cannot 
Be call'd our mother, but our grave ; where nothing, 
But who knows nothing, is once seen to smile ; 
Where sighs and groans and shrieks that rend the air 
Are made, not mark'd ; where violent sorrow seems 
A modern ecstasy : l the dead man's knell 
Is there scarce ask'd for who ; 2 and good men's lives 
Expire before the flowers in their caps, 
Dying or ere they sicken. 

Macduff. O, relation 

Too nice, and yet too true ! 3 

Malcolm. What's the newest grief ? 

Ross. That of an hour's age doth hiss the speaker : 
Each minute teems 4 a new one. 

1 " A modern ecstasy," i.e., an ordinary grief. 2 Whom. 

3 " O, relation," etc., i.e., the narrative, though worded with too much 
art, is yet, alas, too true. 4 Gives birth to. 



84 SHAKESPEARE. [act iv. 

Macduff. How does my wife ? 

Ross. Why, well. 

Macduff. And all my children ? 

Ross. Well too. 

Macduff. The tyrant has not batter'd at their peace ? 

Ross. No ; they were well at peace when I did leave 'em. 

Macduff. Be not a niggard of your speech : how goes' t ? 

Ross. When I came hither to transport the tidings, 
Which I have heavily borne, there ran a rumor 
Of many worthy fellows that were out ; l 
Which was to my belief witness'd the rather, 
For that 2 I saw the tyrant's power 3 afoot. 
Now is the time of help ; your eye in Scotland 
Would create soldiers, make our women fight, 
To doff 4 their dire distresses. 

Malcolm. Be't their comfort 

We are coming thither : gracious England hath 
Lent us good Siward and ten thousand men ; 
An older and a better soldier none 
That Christendom gives out. 

Ross. Would I could answer 

This comfort with the like ! But I have words 
That would be howl'd out in the desert air, 
Where hearing should not latch 5 them. 

Macduff. What concern they ? 

The general cause ? or is it a fee-grief 6 
Due to some single breast ? 

Ross. No mind that's honest 

But in it shares some woe ; though the main part 
Pertains to you alone. 

Macduff. If it be mine, 

Keep it not from me, quickly let me have it. 

1 Out in armed rebellion. 2 " For that," i.e., because. 

3 Army. * Do off ; to be freed from. 5 Catch. 

6 A personal grief of which one is the sole possessor, has it in fee. 



scene in.] MACBETH. 85 

Ross. Let not your ears despise my tongue forever, 
Which shall possess them with the heaviest sound 
That ever yet they heard. 

Macduff. Hum ! I guess at it. 

Ross. Your castle is surpris'd ; your wife and babes 
Savagely slaughter'd : to relate the manner, 
Were, on the quarry 1 of these murder'd deer, 
To add the death of you. 

Malcolm. Merciful Heaven ! 

What, man ! ne'er pull your hat upon your brows ; 
Give sorrow words : the grief that does not speak 
Whispers the o'erfraught heart, and bids it break. 

Macduff. My children too ? 

Ross. Wife, children, servants, all 

That could be found. 

Macduff. And I must be from thence ! 

My wife kilPd too ? 

Ross. I have said. 

Malcolm. Be comforted : 

Let's make us med'cines of our great revenge, 
To cure this deadly grief. 

Macduff. He has no children. All my pretty ones ? 
Did you say all ? O hell-kite ! All ? 
What, all my pretty chickens and their dam 
At one fell swoop ? 

Malcolm. Dispute 2 it like a man. 

Macduff. I shall do so ; 

But I must also feel it as a man : 
I cannot but remember such things were, 
That were most precious to me. Did Heaven look on, 
And would not take their part ? Sinful Macduff, 
They were all struck for thee ! naught 3 that I am, 
Not for their own demerits, but for mine, 
Fell slaughter on their souls. Heaven rest them now ! 

1 " A heap of slaughtered game." 2 Contend with. 3 Vile thing. 



86 SHAKESPEARE. [act v. 

Malcolm. Be this the whetstone of your sword : let grief 
Convert to anger ; blunt not the heart, enrage it. 

Macduff. O, I could play the woman with mine eyes, 
And braggart with my tongue ! But, gentle heavens, 
Cut short all intermission ; x front to front 
Bring thou this fiend of Scotland and myself; 
Within my sword's length set him ; if he 'scape, 
Heaven forgive him too ! 

Malcolm. This tune goes manly. 

Come, go we to the king ; our power is ready ; 
Our lack is nothing but our leave. 2 Macbeth 
Is ripe for shaking, and the powers above 
Put on their instruments. 3 Receive what cheer you may : 
The night is long that never finds the day. [Exeufit. 

ACT V. 

Scene I. Dunsinane. Anteroom in the Castle. 
Enter a Doctor of Physic and a Waiting Gentlewoman. 

Doctor. I have two nights watch'd with you, but can perceive 
no truth in your report. When was it she last walk'd ? 

Gentlewoman. Since his majesty went into the field, I have 
seen her rise from her bed, throw her nightgown upon her, un- 
lock her closet, take forth paper, fold it, write upon't, read it, 
afterwards seal it, and again return to bed ; yet all this while in 
a most fast sleep. 

Doctor. A great perturbation in nature, to receive at once the 
benefit of sleep, and do the effects of watching ! In this slum- 
bery 4 agitation, besides her walking and other actual perform- 
ances, what, at any time, have you heard her say ? 

1 Interruption ; delay. 

2 " Our lack," etc., i.e., there is nothing lacking now but to take leave. 

3 " Powers," etc., i.e., powers above instigate men to the work. 

4 Slumberous. 



scene I.] MACBETH. 87 

Gentlewoman. That, sir, which I will not report after her. 
Doctor. You may to me : and 'tis most meet you should. 
Gentlewoma?i. Neither to you nor any one ; having no witness 
to confirm my speech. 

Enter Lady Macbeth, with a taper. 

Lo you, here she comes ! This is her very guise; 1 and, upon 
my life, fast asleep. Observe her ; stand close. 2 

Doctor. How came she by that light ? 

Gentlewoman. Why, it stood by her: she has light by her 
continually ; 'tis her command. 

Doctor. You see, her eyes are open. 

Gentlewoman. Ay, but their sense is shut. 

Doctor. What is it she does now ? Look how she rubs her hands. 

Gentlewoman. It is an accustom'd action with her, to seem thus 
washing her hands : I have known her continue in this a quarter 
of an hour. 

Lady Macbeth. Yet here's a spot. 

Doctor. Hark ! she speaks : I will set down what comes from 
her, to satisfy my remembrance the more strongly. 

Lady Macbeth. Out, damned spot ! out, I say ! — One: two: 
why, then 'tis time to do't. — Hell is murky ! — Fie, my lord, fie ! 
a soldier, and afeard ? What need we fear who knows it, when 
none can call our power to account? — Yet who would have 
thought the old man to have had so much blood in him! ) 

Doctor. Do you mark that ? 

Lady Macbeth. The Thane of Fife had a wife : where is she 
now? — What, will these hands ne'er be clean ? — No more o' 
that, my lord, no more o' that: you mar all with this starting. 

Doctor. Go to, go to ; 3 you have known what you should not. 

1 " Very guise," i.e., the dress and manner in which she always appears 
on these occasions. 2 Quiet. 

3 "Go to," an exclamation of horror and astonishment here. The 
phrase is used in various senses by Shakespeare, — as an expression of en- 
couragement, of reproach, of contempt, etc. 



88 SHAKESPEARE. [act v. 

Gentlewoman. She has spoke what she should not ; I am sure 
of that : Heaven knows what she has known. 

Lady Macbeth. Here's the smell of the blood still : all the per- 
fumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. Oh, oh, oh ! 

Doctor. What a sigh is there ! The heart is sorely charg'd. 

Gentlewoman. I would not have such a heart in my bosom for 
the dignity of the whole body. 1 

Doctor. Well, well, well, — 

Gentlewoman. Pray God it be, sir. 

Doctor. This disease is beyond my practice : yet I have known 
those which have walk'd in their sleep who have died holily in 
their beds. 

Lady Macbeth. Wash your hands, put on your nightgown ; 
look not so pale. — I tell you yet again, Banquo's buried; he 
cannot come out on's grave. 

Doctor. Even so ? 

Lady Macbeth. To bed, to bed ! there's knocking at the gate : 
come, come, come, come, give me your hand. What's done can- 
not be undone. — To bed, to bed, to bed ! [Exit. 

Doctor. Will she go now to bed ? 

Gentlewoman. Directly. 2 

Doctor. Foul whisperings are abroad : unnatural deeds 
Do breed unnatural troubles : infected minds 
To their deaf pillows will discharge their secrets : 
More needs she the divine than the physician. 
God, God forgive us all ! Look after her ; 
Remove from her the means of all annoyance, 
And still keep eyes upon her. So, good night : 
My mind she has mated, 3 and amazed my sight. 
I think, but dare not speak. 

Gentlewoman. Good night, good doctor. [Exeunt. 



1 " Heart," etc., i.e., such a heart in my bosom for all the rank and 
honors of her state. 

2 At once. 3 Confounded, 



scene II.] MACBETH. 89 

Scene II. The Country near Dunsinane. 

Dram and colors. Enter Menteith, Caithness, Angus, Lennox, and 

Soldiers. 

Menteith. The English power is near, led on by Malcolm, 
His uncle Siward, and the good Macduff. 
Revenges burn in them ; for their dear causes 
Would to the bleeding and the grim alarm 
Excite the mortified man. 1 

Angus. Near Birnam Wood 

Shall we well meet them ; that way are they coming. 

Caithness. Who knows if Donalbain be with his brother ? 

Lennox. For certain, sir, he is not : I have a file 
Of all the gentry : there is Siward's son, 
And many unrough 2 youths that even now 
Protest 3 their first of manhood. 

Menteith. What does the tyrant ? 

Caithness. Great Dunsinane he strongly fortifies : 
Some say he's mad ; others that lesser hate him 
Do call it valiant fury : but, for certain, 
He cannot buckle his distemper'd cause 
Within the belt of rule. 4 

Angus. Now does he feel 

His secret murders sticking on his hands ; 
Now minutely 5 revolts upbraid his faith-breach ; 
Those he commands move only in command, 
Nothing in love : now does he feel his title 
Hang loose about him, like a giant's robe 
Upon a dwarfish thief. 

Menteith. Who then shall blame 

His pester'd 6 senses to recoil and start, 

1 " Mortified man," i.e., an ascetic; a man dead to worldly affairs. 

2 Unbearded. 3 Testify to. 

4 " He cannot," etc., i.e., he cannot bind his disaffected party to his sway. 

5 Constantly occurring. 6 Perplexed. 



9 o SHAKESPEARE. [act v. 

When all that is within him does condemn 
Itself for being there ? 

Caithness. Well, march we on, 

To give obedience where 'tis truly ow'd : 
Meet we the medicine of the sickly weal, 
And with him pour we in our country's purge 
Each drop of us. 1 

Lemiox. Or so much as it needs, 

To dew the sovereign flower and drown the weeds. 
Make we our march towards Birnam. [Exeunt, marching. 

Scene III. Dimsinane. A Room in the Castle. 
Enter Macbeth, Doctor, and Attendants. 

Macbeth. Bring me no more reports ; let them fly all : 
Till Birnam Wood remove to Dunsinane, 
I cannot taint with fear. What's the boy Malcolm ? 
Was he not born of woman ? The spirits that know 
All mortal consequences have pronounc'd 2 me thus : 
" Fear not, Macbeth ; no man that's born of woman 
Shall e'er have power upon thee." Then fly, false thanes, 
And mingle with the English epicures : 
The mind I sway by 3 and the heart I bear 
Shall never sag with doubt nor shake with fear. 

Enter a Servant. 

The devil damn thee black, thou cream-fac'd loon ! 
Where got'st thou that goose look ? 

Servant. There is ten thousand — 

Macbeth. Geese, villain ? 

Servant. Soldiers, sir. 

Macbeth. Go prick thy face, and over-red thy fear, 

1 " Meet we," etc., i.e., let us join the physician (Malcolm), and with 
him, to cleanse the sickly commonwealth, shed our blood to the last drop. 

2 Declared to. 3 " Sway by," i.e., am governed by. 



scene in.] MACBETH. 91 

Thou lily-liver'd l boy. What soldiers, patch ? 2 
Death of thy soul ! those linen cheeks of thine 
Are counselors to fear. What soldiers, whey-face ? 

Servant. The English force, so please you. 

Macbeth. Take thy face hence. [Exit Servant. 

Sey ton ! — I am sick at heart, 

When I behold — Sey ton, I say ! — this push 3 

Will chair me ever, or disseat me now. 

I have liv'd long enough : my way of life 

Is falFn into the sear, the yellow leaf ; 

And that which should accompany old age, 

As honor, love, obedience, troops of friends, 

I must not look to have ; but, in their stead, 

Curses, not loud but deep, mouth-honor, breath, 

Which the poor heart would fain deny, and dare not. 

Seyton ! 

Enter Seyton. 

Seyton. What is your gracious pleasure ? 

Macbeth. What news more ? 

Seyton. All is confirm'd, my lord, which was reported. 

Macbeth. I'll fight till from my bones my flesh be hack'd. 
Give me my armor. 

Seyton. 'Tis not needed yet. 

Macbeth. I'll put it on. 
Send out more horses ; skirr 4 the country round ; 
Hang those that talk of fear. Give me mine armor. 
How does your patient, doctor ? 

Doctor. Not so sick, my lord, 

As she is troubled with thick-coming fancies, 
That keep her from her rest. 

Macbeth. Cure her of that. 

Canst thou not minister to a mind diseas'd, 

1 Cowardly. Formerly the liver was regarded as the seat of the passions 
and emotions generally. 

2 Stupid fool. 3 Onset. * Scour. 



92 SHAKESPEARE. [act v. 

Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow, 
Raze out the written troubles of the brain 
And with some sweet oblivious antidote 
Cleanse the stuff'd bosom of that perilous stuff 
Which weighs upon the heart ? 

Doctor. Therein the patient 

Must minister to himself. 

Macbeth. Throw physic to the dogs; I'll none of it. — 
Come, put mine armor on ; give me my staff. 1 — 
Seyton, send out. — Doctor, the thanes fly from me. — 
Come, sir, dispatch.'- — If thou couldst, doctor, cast 
The water of my land, find her disease, 
And purge it to a sound and pristine health, 
I would applaud thee to the very echo, 
That should applaud again. — Pull't off, I say. 3 — 
What rhubarb, senna, or what purgative drug, 
Would scour these English hence ? Hear'st thou of them ? 

Doctor. Ay, my good lord ; your royal preparation 
Makes us hear something. 

Macbeth. Bring it after me. — 

I will not be afraid of death and bane, 
Till Birnam Forest come to Dunsinane. 

Doctor. [Aside] Were I from Dunsinane away and clear, 
Profit again should hardly draw me here. [Exeunt. 

Scene IV. Country near Birnam Wood. 

Drum and colors. Enter Malcolm, old Siward and his Son, Macduff, 
Menteith, Caithness, Angus, Lennox, Ross, and Soldiers, marching. 

Malcolm. Cousins, I hope the days are near at hand 
That chambers will be safe. 

1 Lance. 

2 " Come, sir, dispatch," addressing the attendant who is putting on the 
armor. 

3 " Pull't off, I say," i.e., the armor, or some part of it, to which Macbeth 
refers a few lines below, — " Bring it after me." 



scene v.] macbeth: 93 

Menteith. We doubt it nothing. 

Siward. What wood is this before us ? 

Menteith. The wood of Birnam. 

Malcolm. Let every soldier hew him down a bough 
And bear't before him ; thereby shall we shadow 
The numbers of our host, and make discovery 
Err in report of us. 

Soldiers. It shall be done. 

Siward. We learn no other but the confident tyrant 
Keeps still in Dunsinane, and will endure 
Our setting down before't. 1 

Malcolm. 'Tis his main hope : 

For where there is advantage to be ta'en, 
Both more and less have given him the revolt, 
And none serve with him but constrained things 
Whose hearts are absent too. 

Macduff. Let our just censures 

Attend the true event, and put we on 
Industrious soldiership. 2 

Siward. The time approaches 

That will with due decision make us know 
What we shall say we have and what we owe. 
Thoughts speculative their unsure hopes relate, 
But certain issue strokes must arbitrate : 
Towards which advance the war. [Exeunt, marching. 

Scene V. Dunsinane. Within the Castle. 
Enter Macbeth, Seyton, and Soldiers, with drum and colors. 

Macbeth. Hang out our banners on the outward walls ; 
The cry is still, " They come ! " Our castle's strength 

1 "Keeps still," etc., i.e., intrenched in his castle of Dunsinane, will 
stand a siege from us. 

2 "Let our just censures," etc., i.e., let us act the part of true soldiers, 
that the event may prove our judgments just. 



94 SHAKESPEARE. [act v. 

Will laugh a siege to scorn : here let them lie 
Till famine and the ague eat them up : 
Were they not forc'd 1 with those that should be ours, 
We might have met them dareful, beard to beard, 
And beat them backward home. [A cry of women within. 

What is that noise ? 

Seyton. It is the cry of women, my good lord. [Exit. 

Macbeth. I have almost forgot the taste of fears : 
The time has been, my senses would have cool'd 
To hear a night-shriek ; and my fell of hair 2 
Would at a dismal treatise 3 rouse and stir 
As life were in't. I have supp'd full with horrors ; 
Direness, familiar to my slaughterous thoughts, 
Cannot once start me. 

Reenter Seyton. 

Wherefore was that cry ? 

Seyton. The queen, my lord, is dead. 

Macbeth. She should have died hereafter ; 
There would have been a time for such a word. 
To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, 
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day 
To the last syllable of recorded time, 
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools 
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle ! 
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player 
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage 
And then is heard no more : it is a tale 
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, 
Signifying nothing. 

Enter a Messenger. 

Thou com'st to use thy tongue ; thy story quickly. 
Messenger. Gracious my lord, 

l Reenforced. 2 " Fell of hair," i.e., scalp with the hair on it. 

3 " Dismal treatise," i.e., blood-curdling story. 



scene vi.] MACBETH. 95 

I should report that which I say I saw, 
But know not how to do it. 

Macbeth. Well, say, sir. 

Messenger. As I did stand my watch upon the hill, 
I look'd toward Birnam, and anon, methought, 
The wood began to move. 

Macbeth. Liar and slave ! 

Messenger. Let me endure your wrath, if't be not so : 
Within this three mile may you see it coming ; 
I say, a moving grove. 

Macbeth. If thou speak'st false, 

Upon the next tree shalt thou hang alive, 
Till famine cling 1 thee : if thy speech be sooth, 
I care not if thou dost for me as much. 
I pall 2 in resolution, and begin 
To doubt the equivocation of the fiend 
That lies like truth : " Fear not till Birnam Wood 
Do come to Dunsinane : " and now a wood 
Comes toward Dunsinane. Arm, arm, and out ! 
If this which he avouches does appear, 
There is nor flying hence nor tarrying here. 
I 'gin to be aweary of the sun, 
And wish the estate o' the world were now undone. 
Ring the alarum bell ! Blow, wind ! come, wrack ! 3 
At least we'll die with harness 4 on our back. [Exeunt. 

Scene VI. Dunsinane. Before the Castle. 

Drum and colors. Enter Malcolm, old Siward, Macduff, and their 
Army, with boughs. 

Malcolm. Now near enough : your leavy screens throw down, 
And show like those you are. You, worthy uncle, 

1 Wither, shrivel up, a signification of " cling" which it still has in the 
north of England. 

2 Lose heart. 3 Ruin. 4 Armor. 



q6 SHAKESPEARE. [act v 

Shall, with my cousin, your right-noble son, 
Lead our first battle : l worthy Macduff and we 
Shall take upon's what else remains to do, 
According to our order. 

Siward. Fare you well. 

Do we but find the tyrant's power to-night, 
Let us be beaten, if we cannot fight. 

Macduff. Make all our trumpets speak ; give them all breath, 
Those clamorous harbingers 2 of blood and death. [£xeunt. 



Scene VII. Another Part of the Field. 

Alarums. Enter Macbeth. 

Macbeth. They have tied me to a stake ; I cannot fly, 
But, bearlike, I must fight the course. 3 What's he 
That was not born of woman ? Such a one 
Am I to fear, or none. 

Enter young Siward. 

Young Siward. -What is thy name ? 

Macbeth. Thou'lt be afraid to hear it. 

Young Siward. No ; though thou calPst thyself a hotter name 
Than any is in hell. 

Macbeth. My name's Macbeth. 

Young Siward. The devil himself could not pronounce a title 
More hateful to mine ear. 

Macbeth. No, nor more fearful. 

Young Siward. Thou liest, abhorred tyrant ; with my sword 
I'll prove the lie thou speak'st. 

[They fight, and young Siward is slain. 

1 Battalion. 2 Announcers (see Note 4, p. 25). 

3 "They have tied," etc. Bear-baiting was a popular amusement in 
England in Shakespeare's time. The hear was tied to a stake, and a certain 
number of dogs set on him at intervals. Each attack was called a course. 



scene viii.] MACBETH. 97 

Macbeth. Thou wast born of woman. 

But swords I smile at, weapons laugh to scorn, 
Brandish'd by man that's of a woman born. [Exit. 

Alarums. Enter Macduff. 

Macduff. That way the noise is. Tyrant, show thy face ! 
If thou be'st slain and with no stroke of mine, 
My wife and children's ghosts will haunt me still. 
I cannot strike at wretched kerns, 1 whose arms 
Are hir'd to bear their staves: 2 either thou, Macbeth, 
Or else my sword with an unbatter'd edge 
I sheathe again undeeded. There thou shouldst be ; 
By this great clatter, one of greatest note 
Seems bruited. 3 Let me find him, Fortune ! 
And more I beg not. [Exit. Alarums. 

Enter MALCOLM and old SlWARD. 

Siward. This way, my lord ; the castle's gently render'd : 
The tyrant's people on both sides do fight ; 
The noble thanes do bravely in the war ; 
The day almost itself professes yours, 
And little is to do. 

Malcolm. We have met with foes 

That strike beside us. 

Siward. Enter, sir, the castle. [Exeunt. Alarums. 

Scene VIII. Another Part of the Eield. 
Enter Macbeth. 

Macbeth. Why should I play the Roman fool 4 and die 
On mine own sword ? Whiles I see lives, the gashes 
Do better upon them. 

1 " Kerns " is used here contemptuously for the common soldiers of Mac- 
beth's army (see Note 4, p. 14). 

2 Lances. 3 Hailed with great clamor. 

4 " Roman fool," alluding, probably, to Cato or Marcus Brutus. 

7 



98 SHAKESPEARE. [act v. 

Enter Macduff. 

Macduff. Turn, hell-hound, turn ! 

Macbeth. Of all men else I have avoided thee : 
But get thee back ; my soul is too much charg'd 
With blood of thine already. 

Macduff. I have no words : 

My voice is in my sword, thou bloodier villain 
Than terms can give thee out ! [They fight. 

Macbeth. Thou losest labor : 

As easy mayst thou the intrenchant l air 
With thy keen sword impress as make me bleed : 
Let fall thy blade on vulnerable crests ; 
I bear a charmed life, which must not yield 
To one of woman born. 

Macduff. Despair thy charm ; 

And let the angel 2 whom thou still hast serv'd 
Tell thee, Macduff was from his mother's womb / 
Untimely ripp'd. 

Macbeth. Accursed be that tongue that tells me so, 
For it hath cow'd my better part of man ! 
And be these juggling fiends no more believ'd, 
That palter 3 with us in a double sense ; 
That keep the word of promise to our ear, 
And break it to our hope. I'll not fight with thee. 

Macduff. Then yield thee, coward, 
And live to be the show and gaze o' the time : 
We'll have thee, as our rarer monsters are, 
Painted upon a pole, and underwrit, 
" Here may you see the tyrant." 

Macbeth. I will not yield 

To kiss the ground before young Malcolm's feet, 

1 Incapable of receiving a wound. 

2 Demon. It was the belief of the ancients that every man was controlled 
for good or evil by his attendant genius or demon (see Note 3, p. 50). 

3 Equivocate. 



scene viii.] MACBETH. 99 

And to be baited l with the rabble's curse. 

Though Birnam Wood be come to Dunsinane, 

And thou oppos'd, being of no woman born, 

Yet I will try the last. Before my body 

I throw my warlike shield^vLay on, Macduff, 

And damn'd be him that first cries, " Hold, enough ! " ,X. 

[Rxetmt, fighting. Alarums, 



Retreat. Flourish. Enter, with drum and colors, Malcolm, old SiWARD,. 
Ross, the other Thanes, and Soldiers. 

Malcolm. I would the friends we miss were safe arriv'd. 

Siward. Some must go off : and yet, by these I see, 2 
So great a day as this is cheaply bought. 

Malcolm. Macduff is missing, and your noble son. 

Ross. Your son, my lord, has paid a soldier's debt : 
He only liv'd but till he was a man ; 
The which no sooner had his prowess confirm'd 
In the unshrinking station where he fought, 
But like a man he died. 

Siward. Then he is dead ? 

Ross. Ay, and brought off the field : your cause of sorrow 
Must not be measur'd by his worth, for then 
It hath no end. 

Siward. Had he his hurts before ? 

Ross. Ay, on the front. 

Siward. Why then, God's soldier be he ! 

Had I as many sons as I have hairs, 
I would not wish them to a fairer death : 
And so, his knell is knoll'd. 

Malcolm. He's worth more sorrow, 

And that I'll spend for him. 

1 Snarled at ; worried, as by dogs. 

2 " Some must," etc., i.e., some must die; and yet, by the full ranks I 
see around us, etc. 



ioo SHAKESPEARE. [act v. 

Siward. He's worth no more : 

They say he parted well, and paid his score : 
And so, God be with him ! Here comes newer comfort. 

Reenter Macduff, with Macbeth's head. 

Macduff. Hail, King ! for so thou art : behold, where stands 
The usurper's cursed head : the time is free. 
I see thee compass'd with thy kingdom's pearl, 1 
That speak my salutation in their minds ; 
Whose voices I desire aloud with mine : 
Hail, King of Scotland ! 

All. Hail, King of Scotland ! [Flourish. 

Malcolm. We shall not spend a large expense of time 
Before we reckon with your several loves, 
And make us even with you. My thanes and kinsmen, 
Henceforth be earls, the first that ever Scotland 
In such an honor nam'd. What's more to do, 
Which would be planted newly with the time, 
As calling home our exil'd friends abroad 
That fled the snares of watchful tyranny ; 
Producing forth the cruel ministers 
Of this dead butcher and his fiendlike queen, 
Who, as 'tis thought, by self and violent hands 
Took off her life ; this, and what needful else 
That calls upon us, by the grace of Grace, 
We will perform in measure, time, and place : 
So, thanks to all at once and to each one, 
Whom we invite to see us crown'd at Scone. 

[Flourish. Exeunt. 

1 " Thy kingdom's pearl," i.e., the nobility of Scotland as a body. 



SUGGESTIONS FOR THE STUDY OF 
SHAKESPEARE. 

Most people can read Shakespeare, and "have some aim what he 
would work them to." But anything like a full appreciation of the 
riches within his greater plays comes only as a reward for patient and 
intelligent study. Mere reading, in the cursory and superficial sense 
of the term, will not avail, sympathetic, earnest, and studious read- 
ing is the price we must pay for appreciating the greatest of poets. 

A play of Shakespeare must be regarded, first of all, as a story. 
As such, it must be understood in its individual parts, even to its 
words and phrases. These minor parts have a relation to one another 
like that of the members of an organism. And the failure to see 
these relations is failure to understand the play. Character, action, 
and situation grow out of one another, and are related to one another 
in an essential and vital manner. The story must therefore be seen 
as a growth, a development. In this unity of purpose and tendency, 
as well as in its creative originality and force or beauty of diction, lies 
its claim to greatness. 

As poetry deals with the universal elements in human life, the 
reader must see in the play the concrete representation of the laws 
to which his own life is subject. He must see the characters as em- 
bodying motives and passions like his own. He must see the circum- 
stances under which they live as making up a world governed by laws 
not essentially different from those of the world in which he himself 
lives. He must enter into the story with an imaginative sympathy 
that makes him seem almost a participant in the action. 

The reader must not be drawn aside into trivial interests in those 
things that are not a vital part of the poet's conception. Historical and 
other allusions, philological curiosities of grammar and diction, and 

101 



102 SHAKESPEARE. 

all such matters, must be kept strictly in their subordinate place. 
They are to be studied when they afford a key to the meaning of 
the passage in which they stand; but they are not to be considered 
as the things of ultimate value. Shakespeare is a poet, not a philo- 
logical gymnasium. 

The questions given in the following pages are intended to suggest 
such lines of thought and discussion as will help the student in the 
appreciative reading of the play. It is not assumed that they are 
the best questions that may be asked, nor that they will, as they 
stand, best fit the needs of every class. The teacher must know the 
particular needs of his class, and select from the questions those which 
he regards as most helpful. Every teacher finds, however, that 
questions must be asked if he would have his pupils read with eyes 
open and minds alert. 

But it would be a great mistake to allow these or any other ques- 
tions to obstruct the free communion of the pupils with the poet. 
The play should first be read through as one reads any book, without 
other study than is necessary to get the general drift and meaning of 
the story. Then the detailed study, with the help of the questions, 
may begin. Pupils should be held responsible for the meanings of 
the words as a matter of course. Allusions should be treated likewise, 
where they involve the sense of the passage. But the most of the 
work at this stage of study will be upon the significance and relations 
to one another of the parts of the play. After this analytic work — 
which will interest and benefit the pupil just in proportion as it reveals 
to him things that he would not have found out for himself and 
that bring the play within the realm of ideas and ideals which he 
has or for which he is ready — will come the final reading of the play 
to enable the student to complete his synthesis of the whole. He 
should now be able to see the career of Macbeth, from its beginning 
with criminally ambitious thoughts, through its development under 
the influence of fear and crime, to its end in utter moral and material 
ruin ; the part of Macduff in the play from his first challenge of Mac- 
beth's rash act to the point where he dominates the action; the place 
of Lady Macbeth, at first strong in resolution, and at last broken 
utterly by the weight of her guilt; the motives and the fears that 
incite to action ; the laws that are at first set at naught, and that 
reassert themselves so sternly: these, and many other interesting 
things, the student will realize as making up the meaning and the 
power of the play. 



MACBETH. 103 

Much of the poetry and the power of any great work of literature 
cannot be taught. It may be felt ; but it can be communicated only 
by the author himself, and only to those who can in some measure 
enter into his spirit. The teacher may, indeed, help the pupil to 
create in his mind the intellectual conditions necessary to such feeling. 
He may infect the pupil with some of the contagion of his own ad- 
miration. But he cannot enforce appreciation. He must be con- 
tent with seeking to foster it. 

The following books will be found especially helpful in the teaching 
of Shakespeare in the schools: Dowden's "Shakespeare Primer" 
(American Book Co.); Freytag's " Technique of the Drama" (Scott, 
Foresman & Co.) ; Butcher's " Aristotle's Theory of Poetry and Fine 
Art" (Macmillan). I would especially recommend the " Variorum 
Edition of Macbeth," by Dr. Furness (Lippincott). If possible, have 
it accessible to the class. No student of this play can do without 
the monumental work of Dr. Furness. 



MACBETH. 

First read the play through for its story as you would read any 
book. Do not, by going first to these notes, allow them to get be- 
tween you and the poet. As you read the play, notice what sort of 
characters, motives, and actions develop the story to the end. Use 
the notes at the foot of the pages and the dictionary wherever they 
are necessary to an understanding of the text. After the first reading 
of the play, read the critical comments given in the Introduction to 
this volume, pp. 3-12 inclusive; but hold yourself ready to form in- 
dependent judgments. 

ACT I. 

Scene I. 1. In what kind of natural environment does the action 
begin ? 

2. What other sort of turmoil is also in progress? 

3. What associations do we connect with witches — good or evil? 

4. What is the effect upon us of their intention "to meet with 
Macbeth " ? 

5. What do they mean by " Fair is foul, and foul is fair"? 

6. Why are they associated with " Graymalkin" and "Paddock"? 

7. What kind of action does this opening scene lead us to expect? 

8. Did the people of Shakespeare's time believe in witches ? (See 
Century Dictionary under witch and witchcraft. ) 

Scene II. 1. How is this scene linked to the preceding scene? 

2. What is the state of the country at the opening of the play? 

3. Who are the leaders of the rebellion? 

4. Who are the leaders of the loyal party ? 

5. In what way does the sergeant regard Macbeth? 

104 



act I. sc. in.] MACBETH. 105 

6. In what tone does Ross speak of him a moment later? 

7. How does this difference suggest Macbeth's increasing promi- 
nence ? 

8. What impression do we get of Duncan ? Was it the custom of 
kings at that time to remain at a distance from the battle ? 

9. How does this scene prepare us for the entrance of Macbeth ? 

10. Why is the introduction of the principal character delayed? 
Compare the method of "Julius Caesar," "Hamlet," and "King 
Lear." 

Scene III. 1. In what kind of exploits are the witches wont to 
engage ? How does this reveal their character ? 

2. What supernatural powers have they ? 

3. What limit is put upon their power to do harm? 

4. What qualities are suggested by their appearance ? By their 
style of speaking? 

5. By what is Macbeth's approach announced? 

6. How are we impressed by their coming out to meet him? 

7. Of what are Macbeth and Banquo talking upon their entrance? 

8. How do the announcements of the witches at once affect Mac- 
beth ? Why does he " start, and seem to fear " ? 

9. Has the prophecy contained any suggestion of crime? 

10. How is Banquo affected ? 

11. Which of the two displays the greater eagerness to know more ? 

12. Note the difference in the nature of the comments made by 
them after the witches disappear. 

13. Note the prompt fulfillment of a part of the prophecy. What 
effect does it have upon us ? 

14. How does Macbeth receive the news? How does Banquo? 

15. What warning does Banquo give him? 

16. What evidence is there in this scene of Macbeth's vivid imagi- 
nation ? 

17. Has he ever entertained treasonous thoughts before? 

18. Is there any scruple of conscience mingled with his evil thoughts? 

19. How does he seem already set apart from his fellows? See pp. 
22, 23. 

20. Where does he show the manners of the courtier? Is he 
already anticipating the need of them? 

21. At what juncture in the fortunes of Macbeth have the witches 
come to him ? What is the effect of this upon him ? 



106 SHAKESPEARE. [act i. sc. iv., v. 

22. Do the witches now appear to be a mere poetic fancy, or do 
they typify anything in human experience ? 

23. At what point in this scene does the "exciting force," or 
motive, of the play enter? 

24. Does it come from within the hero, or from an external source ? 

Scene IV. 1. In what light does the king's character again ap- 
pear? Does he seem fit to be a leader and ruler of men? 

2. Why do you suppose the kingdom was in revolt ? 

3. Does this in any way affect our feeling regarding Macbeth's am- 
bition to be king? 

4. Note the motive for his ambition that Macbeth reveals in 
Scenes III., IV., V., and VII. of Act I. Compare the motives of 
Brutus in "Julius Caesar," Act I., Scene II. ; Act II., Scene I., and 
elsewhere. 

5. Compare the spirit of the king's speeches to Macbeth with Mac- 
beth's replies. Is there any evidence of constraint in the latter? 

6. What precipitates Macbeth's resolution? Compare his de- 
termination to wait for chance to crown him king (Scene III., 
P- 23). 

7. Why does he go himself to announce to his wife the coming 
of the king? 

8. What does his last speech show of his purposes ? Note the 
rapidity with which they have developed. 

9. Why are we shown so much of Macbeth's character before Lady 
Macbeth appears ? 

10. What strong contrast is suggested by Duncan's last speech? 

11. What has Banquo been saying to him? 

Scene V. 1. How long an interval has elapsed between this scene 
and the last ? 

2. Where has Macbeth found opportunity to write the letter? 

3. What does it contain preceding the part that we hear Lady 
Macbeth read ? 

4. Does it suggest to her anything that it does not say ? 

5. What is her estimate of Macbeth's character? 

6. Does she know him accurately? Does it seem from the rest of 
the play that he is too tender-hearted? Or may the phrase " too full 
of the milk of human kindness " be only her euphemism for hesita- 
tion, moral cowardice, or lack of bloody fierceness ? 



ACT i. sc. vi., vii.] MACBETH. 107 

7. What traits in her own character does she reveal while she 
analyzes her husband's? 

8. Note the balanced form of her sentences. What is the effect? 

9. Why does she decide to assume the burden of the deed? 

10. Is she influenced by wifely affection or by ambition ? 

11. Note the title Macbeth gives to her in the letter, and that with 
which she greets him upon his arrival. 

12. Why has the poet shown the strong affection existing between 
them? 

13. Why does Lady Macbeth exclaim to the messenger, " Thou'rt 
mad to say it " ? 

14. How does she hasten to explain her exclamation ? 

15. Note the double meaning in " He brings great news." 

16. Note the somber beauty of the speech that follows. In what 
does its force consist ? 

17. Note that Macbeth hints at the murder and Lady Macbeth 
openly resolves it. 

18. What does she expect to gain by the crime? 

19. In what particular passages is the mockery of this hope re- 
vealed ? (See Act III., Scene I., p. 50, II., pp. 54-56, and IV., 
pp. 58-64; Act IV., Scene I., pp. 70-73; Act V., Scenes I., II., III., 
V., VII., and VIII.) 

20. Note Macbeth's inability to dissemble successfully. Where 
does he again show this ? 

Scene VI. 1. Note the element of repose in this scene. Does it 
afford relief or suspense ? 

2. Has Duncan any premonition of evil? Compare the method in 
"Julius Caesar," Act II., Scene II. 

3. What feelings are most prominent in Duncan's speeches? 

4. Why does Lady Macbeth dwell so much upon " honors "and 
" duties"? 

5. Why is Macbeth absent? 

6. Why does Lady Macbeth not answer the king's inquiry about 
him? 

Scene VII. 1. How long is the interval between this scene and the 
last? 

2. What considerations move Macbeth for and against the crime ? 

3. Does "the milk of human kindness" figure largely in this 
soliloquy? Does conscience? 



108 SHAKESPEARE. [act ii. sc. i. 

4. Or does Macbeth intentionally shut his mind to the promptings 
of his conscience and his feelings, and try to fix it solely upon politic 
considerations? Or are the two mingled? 

5. Why does the poet show us these long mental conflicts and 
hesitations before the crime ? 

6. How should we regard the play if this murder were committed 
out of hand ? 

7. Which lines of Macbeth's first soliloquy in this scene are a 
prophecy of his future career? 

8. What is gained by making Duncan's character appear more 
noble as the crime comes nearer ? 

9. Why had Macbeth left the presence of the king? 

10. What reason does he give for resolving to " proceed no 
further " ? What is his real reason ? 

it. How does Lady Macbeth again bring him to the resolution? 

12. Is his claim of manly courage a just one ? 

13. Has she a just sense of the horror of the crime ? 

14. Is she lacking in womanly feeling ? Or has she resolutely put 
such feeling aside? Compare Scene V., p. 27, and Act II., Scene 
II., lines 1, 13, 14, p. 37- 

15. What light does this scene throw upon Macbeth's thought 
of the murder before the time of the opening of the play? 

16. What use does Lady Macbeth make of the prophecy of the 
witches ? 

17. Does she answer all Macbeth's objections to the deed? 

18. Note the point at which she retires into the background. 

Sum up the traits of character that have appeared in the hero and 
heroine in Act I. What motives and feelings are in control ? To 
what point does this act bring the action of the play ? Why is it 
necessary for the purposes of tragedy that the hero should begin by 
being neither wholly good nor wholly bad ? Note the rapidity of the 
action. How much time has elapsed since the opening of the play? 

ACT II. 

Scene I. 1. What is the time of night? How is the approaching 
storm indicated? 

2. Why does Banquo give Fleance his sword? 

3. What does he mean by the "cursed thoughts"? 



act ii. sc. ii.] MACBETH. 109 

4. Why does he call for his sword as some one approaches ? 

5. Why are the king's gift and his "measureless content" men- 
tioned here ? 

6. Why does Banquo refer to the weird sisters? 

7. Does Macbeth answer him truthfully ? 

8. Of what would he talk to Banquo ? 

9. What caution does Banquo show ? Why? 

10. What leads Macbeth to see the dagger? 

11. How does this quality of his mind help to make the drama 
more tragic ? 

12. Note the effect of lines 6-18, p. 36. To what is it due ? 

13. Why do the very stones seem to him to '■ prate of his where- 
about" ? 

14. Who sounded the bell that was to be the knell of Duncan ? 

15. Why had this arrangement been made? 

Scene II. 1. Where is Macbeth at the opening of this scene? 

2. What does it show of Lady Macbeth's character that she has 
taken wine to make her bold ? Is it hardness or womanly weakness ? 
Does this have any bearing on the sleep-walking scene? 

3. Note how the brooding horror of this scene is intensified by the 
shrieking of the owl, by the talking of the grooms in their sleep, and 
by the voice that Macbeth hears. 

4. What touch of womanliness does Lady Macbeth show here just 
before Macbeth enters ? 

5. In what ways does he show himself to be completely unnerved? 

6. Why does he harp upon " I could not say ' Amen ' " ? 

7. Does Lady Macbeth again assume control? 

8. Which shows greater self-possession ? 

9. What foreshadowing of the nature of their punishment is seen 
here? Note how his imagination already torments him. 

10. Compare the ways in which each speaks of the blood. What 
difference does it suggest? (See Act V., Scene I., pp. 87, 88.) 

1 1. Why has she now the courage to finish what he dared not? 

12. What is the effect upon us of the knocking? 

13. Note the peculiar effectiveness of lines 14-18, p. 39. 

14. Is it fear alone, or remorse also, that Macbeth and Lady Mac- 
beth show? (See especially the last two lines of this scene.) 

15. What irony is suggested by Lady Macbeth's saying, "A little 
water clears us of this deed"? Compare Act V., Scene 1. 



no SHAKESPEARE. [act ii. sc. hi., iv. 

i 6. What things here prepare us for the sleep-walking scene? 
17. Why is the actual scene of the murder not on the stage? 

Scene III. 1. What is the effect of this scene? 

2. What does the porter whimsically imagine himself to be? 

3. How does this conceit fit in with the conditions? 

4. Why does Macbeth enter so soon? 

5. Why does he answer so briefly? 

6. Why does he not himself call Duncan? 

7. Note the use of tumult in nature accompanying crime. Com- 
pare "Julius Caesar," Act I., Scene III. 

8. Compare Macbeth's and Lennox's speeches when Macduff tells 
of the murder. How does the former show that he knows? 

9. See the openness and vigor that belong to Macduff. For what 
part in the drama do these qualities fit him ? 

10. Does Lady Macbeth feign well when she enters? 

11. Does Macbeth's lamentation have the true ring? 

12. When had Macbeth gone in and murdered the grooms? 

13. Was it wisely done? 

14. Why does Macduff demand his reason for it? 

15. Was this murder less atrocious than that of the king? Why 
does the poet treat it with such indifference ? 

16. How is the attention now distracted from Macbeth ? 

17. Was Lady Macbeth's fainting real or assumed? Was there 
anything in the scene to make her swoon? 

18. Why do the king's sons flee ? 

19. Why does Banquo promptly assert his loyalty and call for 
question of " this bloody piece of work " ? 

20. Compare Macduff's part here with his part later in the play. 

Scene IV. 1. What does this scene contribute to our impressions 
of the events of the night? Compare it with the effect of the knock- 
ing at the gate. 

2. Is Macduff deceived? 

3. Why does he not go to see Macbeth crowned? 

4. Why is it necessary to the tragedy that Macbeth should gain his 
object ? 

To what point has this act brought the action of the play ? What 
beginning is there of a force likely to prove hostile or even dangerous 
to Macbeth? By what means has this force been brought into 
existence ? 



act in. sc. i., ii.] MACBETH. 



ACT III. 



Scene I. i. How much time has elapsed between Acts II. and III. ? 

2. How does Banquo voice the feeling against Macbeth ? 

3. How does he view his own hopes of good from the prophecy of 
the witches ? Why does he check himself? 

4. What is there in this speech to prepare us for Macbeth's later 
attitude toward him ? 

5. What is that attitude ? 

6. Why is Macbeth about to give a feast to the nobles? What 
does he hope to determine or accomplish thereby ? 

7. Why do he and Lady Macbeth single out Banquo for special 
honor ? 

8. Why does Macbeth question him so closely regarding his plans? 

9. Why did not Banquo suspect the danger to himself? 

10. What various reasons had Macbeth for wishing him out of the 
way ? 

11. Where does Macbeth first show that he sees he has gained 
nothing by his great crime? 

12. Why does he refer to the " strange inventions" of his "bloody 
cousins"? 

13. What sort of men are the murderers? What fortunes have 
they had? 

14. To what motives in them does Macbeth appeal? 

15. Where had he himself been moved by an appeal to similar 
motives? 

16. How, then, are these men but a reflection, an echo, of himself? 

17. What care does he make most prominent in his instructions to 
them? 

18. What evidence is there that he had been planning the murder 
before this scene opens ? 

19. Where does he seem to descend furthest from the kingly char- 
acter in which the opening of this scene presents him? 

20. In what respect do you see a development in his character? 

21. To what is it due? 

Scene II. 1. Why does Lady Macbeth inquire concerning Ban- 
quo? Why does she ask for Macbeth a moment after? Does she 
know what is to be done ? 



i 12 SHAKESPEARE. [act hi. sc. hi., iv. 

2. What is her state of mind ? Compare her confident assurance 
in Act II., Scene II., p. 39: "A little water clears us of this 
deed." 

3. What is Macbeth's state of mind? Does he suffer from fear, 
from remorse, or from both ? 

4. How does his wife deal with him ? 

5. Why is she no longer able to take the lead and to dictate to him 
his course of action ? 

6. Compare the resolution that here follows his distress of mind 
with that in Act I., Scene VII., last 3 lines, p. 31, and first 13, 
p. 32. 

7. Does Lady Macbeth suggest the new murder to him? Or is 
she trying to find out what he means to do? 

8. What do you think are her feelings and her demeanor during 
his last speech ? Is she elated or resolute, as in Act I. ? 

9. What three speeches of Macbeth show fine poetic quality ? 

10. At what points in the action does he rise to the highest flights 
of poetry ? Why ? 

11. What effect does this have? Does it seem to soften or make 
less repulsive the uglier features of the evil in the play ? 

12. What mental qualities does he seem to have? 

13. What dramatic fitness of application to himself and to his con- 
dition does his speech regarding Duncan have? 

14. What sort of images predominate, and with what effect, in his 
last two speeches ? 

Scene III. 1. In what kind of light does this action occur? 

2. Why may it be presented to the audience more directly than 
the murder of Duncan ? 

3. What effect is gained by having this scene follow immediately 
upon the events of Scene II. ? 

4. It has been suggested by some critics that the third murderer 
was Macbeth. Study carefully the evidences for or against this view 
in Scenes I., III., and IV. 

5. Why is it fitting that Fleance should escape? 

6. Has Banquo in any way provoked or deserved his fate ? 

Scene IV. 1. What sort of scene is here represented ? 
2. Note the elements of formality and courtesy with which the 
guests are greeted. 



act iii. sc. iv.] MACBETH. 113 

3. Why is the murderer made to appear at the door with Ban- 
quo's blood upon his face? 

4. Does any one else see the murderer? 

5. In what way does Macbeth inquire after Banquo and Fleance? 
Does this throw any light upon the question as to who was the third 
murderer ? 

6. How does Macbeth receive the news of Fleance's escape ? Why? 

7. Why does Lady Macbeth recall him to his duties ? 

8. Sum up the various ways by which we have been prepared for 
the appearance of the ghost. (See " Hamlet," Act I., for a similar 
dramatic method.) 

9. What is gained by making the ghost of Banquo appear so soon 
after Macbeth hears of the murder? 

10. At what point in the scene does Macbeth first see the ghost? 

11. On what word is the emphasis in " Which of you have done 
this"? Compare Macbeth's next speech. 

12. Does Lady Macbeth at first know what is the matter with him ? 

13. What do you suppose is the first effect upon the guests? 

14. What hints have been given hitherto that make it probable 
that they would put a dark construction upon Macbeth's actions in 
this scene ? 

15. As the scene advances, what things would be likely to make the 
nobles certain of Macbeth's guilt? 

16. With what crime would they associate it? 

17. Follow the images in his mind as his terror compels him to 
reveal them. 

18. How does Lady Macbeth seek to divert suspicion? With what 
success ? 

19. Why does she reproach him so sharply with what he cannot 
help ? Compare her attitude in Act I. 

20 At what point does the ghost reenter? Why ? 

21. Is there any reason for thinking this the ghost ot Duncan? 
Some critics have thought that more than one ghost appeared. Is 
the change in its appearance merely due to Macbeth's delirious 
state of mind? Study carefully the passages relating to the ghost. 
Note especially lines 23-26, p. 60, and recall the fact that Banquo has 
not been buried. Note, on the other hand, lines 2 and 3, p. 60, and 
lines 21 and 22, p. 61. Compare line 5, p. 61, with line 4, p. 59. 
Which view is more natural and more dramatic ? 

22. Is the phantom seen by any one else ? 



114 SHAKESPEARE. [act hi. sc. v., vi. 

23. Why does Ross say, " What sights, my lord" ? 

24. Why does Lady Macbeth now send her guests off so quickly, 
even though the feast is untasted? 

25. Note how the fit passes off from Macbeth in moralizing. Com- 
pare Act II., Scene II., lines 7-14* P- 38. 

26. For what hour was the feast set? How has the time been 
consumed, if it is now almost morning ? 

27. What change is there in Lady Macbeth's attitude? Account 
for it. 

28. In what light is Macduff shown here ? What does this fore- 
shadow ? 

29. What indication is there that Macbeth's tyranny has begun? 
Compare his statement, "To be thus is nothing, but to be safely 
thus." 

30. What hint does he give as to his future course ? 

31. Why does he resolve to revisit the witches? What develop- 
ment of his character does this show ? 

32. How does he account for his present weakness? 

Scene V. 1. How is Hecate connected with the witches? 

2. For what purpose is she introduced ? 

3. How is Macbeth's downfall definitely foretold? 

4. Compare lines 9-16, p. 65, with the classical proverb, "Whom 
the gods would destroy they first make mad." 

5. Compare lines 13-16, p. 65, with Macbeth's last words in the 
preceding scene. 

Scene VI. 1. What is the dramatic purpose of this scene? 

2. What indications has it of the dangers that are arising for 
Macbeth? 

3. How definitely are these things stated? 

4. In what spirit does Lennox speak? 

5. What was the result of Macbeth's message to Macduff? 

6. In summing up the effects of this scene, bear in mind also the 
supernatural enmity against Macbeth in Scene V. 

7. Note the extremely rapid movement of the play as indicated 
in this scene, especially in the lord's speech, p. 66. 

To what point has this act brought the action of the play? What 
forces are becoming more prominent ? What indications are there 



act iv. sc. I., ii.] MACBETH. 115 

that Macbeth's star is descending? Show how he is hastening his 
downfall by the means by which he seeks to make himself secure. 
Where is the climax or turning-point of the entire play ? 

ACT IV. 

Scene I. 1. What sort of material do the witches choose for their 
caldron ? Why ? 

2. Why is Hecate introduced ? 

3. How do they now regard Macbeth ? 

4. What powers does he attribute to them ? 

5. What is indicated by the fact that he seeks them ? 

6. How does he greet them ? What relation with them does this 
seem to imply? 

7. Whom do they mean by their "masters"? 

8. What does this seem to indicate as to the nature and function 
of the witches in the play ? 

9. Explain the meaning of each of the apparitions. 

10. How are these at once an answer to his thoughts and feeling 
and a revelation of his future ? 

11. Does he suspect that the witches are mocking him ? 

12. What fitness is there in the fact that it is Lennox who brings 
him the news of Macduff 's flight? 

13. Why are the witches visible to no one except Macbeth and 
Banquo? What does this suggest as to their function in the play? 

14. What resolution does Macbeth now make ? Why ? 

15. Show how this, like the murder of Banquo, is a delusive hope, 
and how it helps to carry out the prediction of Hecate (Act III., Scene 
V., p. 65). 

Scene II. 1. Why had Macduff left his family? 

2. Did he know the danger in which they stood? 

3. Where have we first learned of it ? 

4. Did Lady Macduff know why he had gone ? Why had he not 
told her ? 

5. What does Ross think of the times ? 

6. Comment upon the delineation of Lady Macduff's son. Does 
he speak like a child ? 

7. For what purpose is the messenger introduced? Would it be 
more, or less, effective if the murder occurred without any warning? 



n6 SHAKESPEARE. [act v. sc. i. 

8. Compare the open fashion of this murder with the two preced- 
ing murders. How does it indicate the development of the play? 

9. How much of this scene is left to the imagination? (See Ross's 
account in the next scene, p. 85.) 

10. How is this scene a preparation for the next? 

Scene III. 1. What steady purpose does Macduff now hold? 

2. What is his mission to England now seen to be ? 

3. Has Malcolm kept himself informed of affairs at home? 

4. What progress of time is indicated by the fact that he is now 
•■ought out to be made king? 

5. What has become of Donalbain? Why is he allowed to drop 
out of the story ? 

6. Why does Malcolm suspect Macduff? 

7. What two tests does he put to him ? 

8. How is he satisfied? 

9. Why is the scene of the doctor introduced ? Is it in compliment 
to the ruling sovereign, or for the sake of contrast with Macbeth as 
king? 

10. What is gained by having anew from Ross the picture of Scot- 
land's distress? 

11. Why does Ross delay his news? 

12. How does Macduff at first receive it? 

13. How does it become a new motive force in the play? 

14. What had been Macbeth's purpose in this atrocity? How does 
it result for him ? 

15. How is it shown that Macduff is now the dominating force of 
the play ? 

To what point has Act IV. advanced the action ? What forces are 
gathering for Macbeth's destruction ? By what means has our sym- 
pathy been almost completely alienated from him ? 

ACT V. 

Scene I. 1. What stage setting is used to augment the power of 
this scene ? 

2. Why is it rendered more impressive by the presence of the 
doctor and the gentlewoman ? 

3. Why have they come ? 



act v. sc. ii., in.] MACBETH. 1 1 7 

4. When did Lady Macbeth's breakdown occur? Why? 

5. Why has Macbeth not given way under the strain? Has he 
been able to sleep? (See Act III., Scenes II. and IV.) 

6. Where have premonitions of this scene been given ? Quote the 
passages. 

7. Show how each of Lady Macbeth's statements is an echo of 
great crimes or an evidence of her suffering from them. 

8. What things show that she has suffered remorse as well as fear? 

9. Note the effectiveness with which the sense of smell is made to 
add to the tragic effect. Compare the use of this sense in the proph- 
ecy of Cassandra in ^Eschylus' tragedy of "Agamemnon.'' 

10. What things show that Lady Macbeth has suffered from crimes 
in which she had no direct share ? 

11. Why is she made to speak in broken and disjointed fashion? 

12. What evidences are there in this scene that Lady Macbeth was 
not masculine and Amazonian ? Examine also the evidences in Act 
II. (See lines 7-17, p. 7, of the Introduction.) 

13. Why is she allowed to pass out of sight here ? Why does it not 
give us a sense of incompleteness in the story ? 

14. How has the unity of the play been preserved in spite of the 
prominent part given both to Macbeth and Lady Macbeth ? 

15. What impression do you get of the doctor? 

16. How does he interpret this scene? As he says, "Even so?" 
what is it that recurs to his mind? 

17. What feelings does the scene arouse in you? 

Scene II. 1. For what purpose is this scene introduced? What 
direct and important information regarding the progress of the action 
does it give us ? 

2. What is signified by the fact that all the prominent characters 
of the play are in this and the following scenes arrayed against Mac- 
beth ? Compare his words in Scene III., p. 91. 

3. What is now the dominating motive of action among the 
nobles? 

4. What does Menteith mean by his reference to Macbeth's "pes- 
ter'd senses " ? 

Scene III. 1. What "reports" does Macbeth mean? 

2. Does he yet realize the ironical nature of the witches' prophecies ? 
Or is he only trying to bolster up his own courage and that of his 
followers ? 



1 1 8 SHAKESPEARE. [act v. sc. iv.-viii. 

3. In what state of mind is he? Note the manner in which he 
treats those about him. 

4. How is this state of mind a fulfillment of Hecate's threat in Act 
III., Scene V., p. 65? 

5. How does Macbeth now regard his life? 

6. What "poetic justice" is there in his situation? Consider its 
causes. 

7. Why does he speak of himself as already old ? How much time 
is supposed to have elapsed since the opening of the play? 

8. What difference do you see between "stage time," or " dramatic 
time," and ordinary time ? Compare the lapse of time in the banquet 
scene (Act III., Scene IV.). 

9. Does Macbeth sympathize with the suffering of his wife? Is he 
thinking of her only when he speaks of " a mind diseased " ? 

10. Note the reascendency of his habit of courage and resolute 
action. Is he thus rendered more heroic, dramatically considered, 
than if he repented and gave himself up to punishment? 

11. Is repentance possible to him? Would it be a violation of 
consistency in his character? 

Scene IV. What is the dramatic purpose of this scene ? 

Scene V. 1. What are the two great events of this scene? 

2. Account for the way in which Macbeth receives the news of his 
wife's death. 

3. How has he come to regard life? Why? Does he see it as 
it would naturally appear to a man in his condition? 

4. How is he affected by the news about Birnam wood? 

5. What course of action does it drive him into? Is it a wise 
plan ? 

6. In what light do these facts place the prophecies of Hecate and 
the witches ? 

Scenes VI., VII., and VIII. 1. How does Macbeth now regard 
himself? Has he lost courage ? 

2. Note the way in which he clings to the last of the prophecies. 

3. For what reasons is it fitting that he should be slain by Macduff? 

4. Is it more effective to have him first learn that this last of the 
prophecies was also delusive ? 

5. How does it affect him to learn this? 



act v. sc. viii.] MACBETH. 119 

6. Why do we feel mingled pity and terror at the events of 
Act V.? 

7. What new conditions for Scotland come in with the end of the 
play ? Compare this ending with that of " Hamlet " and " King Lear." 

Show who was the dominating force in the first half of the play and 
who in the second half. Trace the rise and decline of the first, and 
the steady rise, to the end of the play, of the second. Point out the 
motives and causes that were at work in each case. Is the play then 
a final triumph of the evil or of the good forces? With what sort of 
laws does it deal — moral or social, or both? If with both, point 
out their relations to each other. 



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of the people, and to such topics as the growth of inven- 
tions, the highways of travel and commerce, and the pro- 
gress of the people in art, science, and literature. The 
numerous maps give vivid impressions of the early 
voyages, explorations, and settlements, of the chief mili- 
tary campaigns, of the territorial growth of the country, 
and of its population at different periods, while the 
pictures on almost every page illustrate different phases in 
the civil and domestic life of the people. 



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be sent, prepaid, to any address on receipt of 

the price by the Publishers: 

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Fisher's Brief History of the Nations 

AND OF THEIR PROGRESS IN CIVILIZATION 

By GEORGE PARK FISHER, LL.D. 
Professor in Yale University 

Cloth, 12mo, 613 pages, with numerous Illustrations, Maps, Tables, and 
Reproductions of Bas-reliefs, Portraits, and Paintings. Price, $1.50 



This is an entirely new work written expressly to meet 
the demand for a compact and acceptable text-book on 
General History for high schools, academies, and private 
schools. Some of the distinctive qualities which will com- 
mend this book to teachers and students are as follows: 

It narrates in fresh, vigorous, and attractive style the 
most important facts of history in their due order and 
connection. 

It explains the nature of historical evidence, and records 
only well established judgments respecting persons and 
events. 

It delineates the progress of peoples and nations in 
civilization as well as the rise and succession of dynasties. 

It connects, in a single chain of narration, events related 
to each other in the contemporary history of different 
nations and countries. 

It gives special prominence to the history of the 
Mediaeval and Modern Periods, — the eras of greatest 
import to modern students. 

It is written from the standpoint of the present, and 
incorporates the latest discoveries of historical explorers 
and writers. 

It is illustrated by numerous colored maps, genealog- 
ical tables, and artistic reproductions of architecture, 
sculpture, painting, and portraits of celebrated men, 
representing every period of the world's history. 



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any address, on receipt of the price, by the Publishers : 

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Handbook of Greek and Roman History 

BY 

GEORGES CASTEGNIER, B.S., B.L. 
Flexible Cloth, 12mo, 110 pages. - Price, 50 cents 



The purpose of this little handbook is to assist the 
student of Greek and Roman History in reviewing subjects 
already studied in the regular text-books and in preparing 
for examinations. It will also be found useful for general 
readers who wish to refresh their minds in regard to the 
leading persons and salient facts of ancient history. 

It is in two parts, one devoted to Greek, and the other 
to Roman history. The names and titles have been 
selected with rare skill, and represent the whole range of 
classical history. They are arranged alphabetically, and 
are printed in full-face type, making them easy to find. 
The treatment of each is concise and gives just the in- 
formation in regard to the important persons, places, and 
events of classical history which every scholar ought to 
know and remember, or have at ready command. 

Its convenient form and systematic arrangement 
especially adapt it for use as an accessory and reference 
manual for students, or as a brief classical cyclopedia for 
p;eneral readers. 



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sent prepaid to any address, on receipt of the price, by the Publishers: 

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Mythology 



Guerber's Myths of Greece and Rome 

Cloth, i2mo, 428 pages. Illustrated .... $1.50 

Guerber's Myths of Northern Lands 

Cloth, i2mo, 319 pages. Illustrated .... $1.50 

Guerber's Legends of the Middle Ages 

Cloth, i2mo, 340 pages. Illustrated .... $1.50 

By H. A. Guerber, Lecturer on Mythology. 

These companion volumes present a complete outline of Ancient 
and Mediaeval Mythology, narrated with special reference to Literature 
and Art. They are uniformly bound in cloth, and are richly illustrated 
with beautiful reproductions of masterpieces of ancient and modern 
painting and sculpture. 

While primarily designed as manuals for the use of classes in schools 
where Mythology is made a regular subject of study and for collateral 
and supplementary reading in classes studying literature or criticism, 
they are equally well suited for private students and for home reading. 
For this purpose the myths are told in a clear and charming style and in 
a connected narrative without unnecessary digressions. To show the 
wonderful influence of these ancient myths in literature, numerous and 
appropriate quotations from the poetical writings of all ages, from 
Hesiod's " Works and Days" to Tennyson's " CEnone," have been in- 
cluded in the text in connection with the description of the different 
myths and legends. 

Maps, complete glossaries and indexes adapt the manuals for conven- 
ient use in schools, libraries or art galleries. 



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Halleck's Psychology and 
Psychic Culture 

By REUBEN POST HALLECK, M.A. (Yale) 
Cloth, 12mo, 368 pages. Illustrated .... Price, $1.25 



This new text-book in Psychology and Psychic Culture 
is suitable for use in High School, Academy and College 
classes, being simple and elementary enough for beginners 
and at the same time complete and comprehensive enough 
for advanced classes in the study. It is also well suited 
for private students and general readers, the subjects being 
treated in such an attractive manner and relieved by so 
many apt illustrations and examples as to fix the attention 
and deeply impress the mind. 

The work includes a full statement and clear exposition 
of the coordinate branches of the study — physiological and 
introspective psychology. The physical basis of Psychol- 
ogy is fully recognized. Special attention is given to the 
cultivation of the mental faculties, making the work 
practically useful for self-improvement. The treatment 
throughout is singularly clear and plain and in harmony 
with its aims and purpose. 

" Halleck's Psychology pleases me very much. It is short, clear, 
interesting, and full of common sense and originality of illustration, 
I can sincerely recommend it." 

WILLIAM JAMES, 
Professor of Psychology, Harvard University. 



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receipt of the price by the Publishers : 

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Ancient, Mediaeval and Modern History 

Barnes's Brief History of Ancient Peoples 
Cloth, i2mo. 330 pages. With maps and illustrations . $1.00 
Being the same as the first half of Barnes's General History of the 
World. In this work the political history is condensed to the salient and 
essential facts, in order to give room for a clear outline of the literature, 
religion, architecture, character and habits of each nation. Though de- 
signed primarily for a text-book, it is well adapted for the general reader. 

Barnes's Brief History of Modern Peoples 
Cloth, i2mo. 314 pages. With maps and illustrations . $1 00 
Being the same as the last half of Barnes's General History of 

the World, and comprising the period from the fall of Rome to the 

present time. 

Thalheimer's Manual of Ancient History 

Cloth, 8vo. 376 pages. With maps and illustrations . $1.60 

A manual of ancient history from the earliest times to the fall of the 

Western Empire, with a full index in which pronunciations are indicated. 

The book is also issued in three parts, each part sufficiently full and 

comprehensive for the academic and university course : — 

Part I., Eastern Empires, 80 cts. Part II., History of Greece, 80 cts. 
Part III., History of Rome, 80 cts. 

Thalheimer's Mediaeval and Modern History 

Cloth, 8vo. 480 pages. 12 double-page maps . . . $1.60 
A sketch of fourteen centuries, conveying by a simple narration of 

events, an impression of the continuity of the civil history of Europe. 

Barnes's Brief History of Rome 
Cloth, i2mo. 316 pages. Illustrated . . . . $1.00 

With select readings from standard authors, on the plan of Brief 

History of Greece. It gives a very good idea of the history of that 

great empire, together with a graphic description of Roman customs, 

arts, literature, etc. 

Barnes's Brief History of Greece 
Cloth, i2mo. 201 pages. Illustrated . . . .75 cents 

This consists of two parts : first, the chapters on the political history 
and the civilization of Greece in Barnes's Brief History of Ancient Peoples, 
including numerous illustrations and ten colored maps ; and second, a 
number of appropriate selections from the works of famous historians. 



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SPEECH ON CONC1L1ATK ' ', A nno qc; A #■ 

-Selections ° 0U 092 295 A M 

CARLYLE'S ESSAY ON ROBERT BURNS 20 I 

CHAUCER'S CANTERBURY TALES— Prologue and Knighte's Tale . 

COLERIDGE'S RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER . . . 20 V 

DEFOE'S HISTORY OF THE PLAGUE IN LONDON . . . 40 X 

DE QUINCEY'S REVOLT OF THE TARTARS . . . . 20 I 

DRYDEN'S PALAMON AND ARC1TE 20 & 

EMERSON'S AMERICAN SCHOLAR, SELF-RELIANCE, COMPEN- 
SATION 20 ¥ 

FRANKLIN'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY . ■ 35 J 

GEORGE ELIOT'S SILAS MARNER 30 $ 

GOLDSMITH'S VICAR OF WAKEFIELD 35 V 

GRAY'S POEMS— Selections 20 Y 

IKVING'S SKETCH-BOOK— Selections 20 1 

IRVING'S TALES OF A TRAVELER 50 I 

MACAULAY'S SECOND ESSAY ON CHATHAM . . . . 20 ^ 

MACAULAY'S ESSAY ON MILTON 20 ' ¥ 

MACAULAY'S ESSAY ON ADDISON 20 ^ 

MACAULAY'S LIFE OF JOHNSON . . • ... » . . . 20 • ' X 

MILTON'S L'ALLEGRO, 1L PENSEROSO, COMUS, LYCIDAS . 20 f 

MILTON'S PARADISE LOST— Books I and II 20 £ 

HOPE'S HOMER'S ILIAD— Books I, VI, XXII, XXIV . . . 20 ^ 

POPE'S POEMS— Selections A 

SCOTT'S IVAN HOE 50 ^ 

SCOTT'S MARMION 40 } 

SCOTT'S LADY OF THE LAKE ;o fo 

SCOTT'S THE ABBOT 60 ^ 

SCOTT'S WOODSTOCK 60 fa 

SHAKESPEARE'S JULIUS CAESAR 20 

S" \V:$PEARE'S TWELFTH NIGHT 20 v 

Sf ■ \KESPEARE'S MERCHANT OF VENICE . . . . . 20 / 

SHAKESPEARE'S MIDSUMMER-NIGHT'S DREAM . . . . 20 . a 

SHAKESPEARE'S AS YOU LIKE IT 20 A 

SHAKESPEARE'S MACBETH -° T 

SHAKESPEARE'S HAMLET 2S > \ 

SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS— (The Spectator) . . . 20 ft 

SOUTHEY'S LIFE OF NELSON 40 A 

TENNYSON'S PRINCESS 20 k 

WEBSTER'S BUNKER HILL ORATIONS 20 k 

WORDSWORTH'S POEMS— Selections 20 f 



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